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SAD! 164 killed, 1,000 Injured In Venezuela
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A twin earthquake that was Venezuela’s largest in over a century has killed at least 164 people and destroyed multiple buildings near the capital, where residents searched Thursday for missing relatives.
Venezuela’s strongest earthquake since 1900 sent rescuers and locals clambering in the dark over flattened apartments, hunting for survivors and extracting people from under the ruins.
France, Spain and the US offered to urgently send rescuers after the magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 quakes the United States Geological Survey (USGS) said struck areas west of the capital on Wednesday evening.
The toll has climbed quickly, with interim president Delcy Rodriguez reporting at least 164 dead and over 970 hurt and noting the state of La Guaira north of Caracas was hit hard.
“We have nothing, right now we have nothing, not even the strength or the courage to go in there, just imagine,” Larry Rojas, 49, told AFP, standing in front of a collapsed building where his family was trapped in the La Guaira city of Catia La Mar.
The coastal city was without electricity, and many residents spent the night in the streets or searching for their relatives, according to AFP reporters.
The 7.5-magnitude earthquake was Venezuela’s most powerful since October 29, 1900, when a 7.7-magnitude tremor struck offshore.
After Wednesday’s shock, some residential buildings showed large cracks and fallen walls, with dozens of others destroyed, according to AFP reporters.
“There are people alive in there and no-one is coming to save them,” said a woman waiting for news of her daughter, who was buried in a ruined 12-story building.
France said it would send 85 rescuers and Spain pledged 54 army searchers as nations including China, India, Brazil and the United States also offered help.
Washington was “immediately deploying search and rescue teams, medical resources, and humanitarian assistance to Venezuela,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday.
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The first quake, with an epicenter 21 kilometers (13 miles) west of the coastal town of Moron, occurred at 2204 GMT, USGS said. Within a minute, a 7.5-magnitude quake struck about 45 kilometers away.
“This earthquake was the second event in a doublet. This magnitude 7.5 mainshock was preceded by 39 seconds by a 7.2 foreshock,” USGS said.
Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello asked people to leave their homes, adding that gas supplies had been cut to several buildings as a precaution.
“We have some damaged structures and we don’t want any kind of accident involving gas to occur,” he said.
The Maiquetia International Airport, located near Caracas, was closed due to “serious damage” to its infrastructure, Rodriguez said, with social media posts showing its severely damaged facilities.
The quakes triggered panic in the capital and drove people into the streets, AFP journalists saw.
“The stairs came away, the whole wall cracked. Things fell from the ceiling. It was horrible,” said 54-year-old bank employee Odalis Escalona.
An AFP journalist saw a 22-story building completely destroyed in the capital’s Altamira neighborhood, where people cried out relatives’ names as volunteers climbed over the rubble.
“We need flashlights,” one of them said.
The tremors struck at a depth of 22 kilometers and 10 kilometers, respectively.
They prompted screams of panic at a shopping center in Caracas, an AFP journalist observed.
“It was unbelievable, I don’t even know how long it lasted,” said shopkeeper Heidi Romero, who was on the top floor when the quake struck.
“We went out through the emergency stairs; that’s how they got us out,” the 42-year-old told AFP.
Many more in the capital exited buildings and waited outside before returning to their offices and homes.
Carmen Guedez, 69, was in the same room as her bedridden sister when she felt the jolt.
“It kept getting stronger,” said the administrator, who lives in a hilly middle-class neighborhood above the capital. “I started to see the windows begin to move and then everything shook.”
She described how she “huddled together” with her sister and a neighbor, adding that “we couldn’t get out. The neighbors are still out on the street.”
The states of Trujillo, Carabobo, Miranda and La Guaira were the hardest hit, according to Cabello.
The quake was felt as far away as the Colombian capital of Bogota, where alarms sounded and some residents evacuated buildings as a precaution.
Freddy Tovar, coordinator of Colombia’s National Seismological Network, said they had received more than 200 reports of tremors nationwide.
“The conditions of this seismic event mean that some aftershocks may occur, which could also be widely felt across Colombian territory,” he said in a video posted on X.
The strongest tremors in earthquake-prone Venezuela’s recent history occurred in the northeast in 1997, killing 73 people, and in Caracas in 1967, when 236 people died.
AFP
The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has intercepted two persons in Adamawa State with ₦34 million in cash, with the suspects allegedly linked to a kidnapping syndicate.
The suspects were intercepted with the cash during an operation in the state.
The Comptroller of Immigration Service, Sani Sule-Jega, disclosed this at a media briefing in Yola, the Adamawa State capital.
According to him, preliminary investigations showed that the suspects claimed the money was intended to pay ransom for their abducted brother.
In a separate operation, the Adamawa State Command of the NIS also intercepted 17 irregular migrants at Rumde Baruw in Yola North Local Government Area of the state.
The undocumented migrants were intercepted at a private three-bedroom residence during an operation by officers of the command.
Sule-Jega said preliminary profiling showed that 13 of the migrants were Cameroonian nationals, comprising eight males and five females, while the remaining four were Chadian nationals, all males.
The Comptroller noted a shift in the accommodation pattern of undocumented migrants, particularly their increasing use of private and unregistered apartments instead of conventional lodging facilities such as hotels.
He said the service was intensifying surveillance and intelligence-led operations to identify and address emerging patterns of irregular migration in the state.
Sule-Jega reiterated the command’s commitment to safeguarding Nigeria’s territorial integrity, improving migration management and strengthening border security.
He urged members of the public to remain vigilant and provide credible information that could assist security agencies in maintaining peace and security across the state.
The suspects and recovered cash have been taken into custody for further investigation and necessary action in accordance with established procedures and applicable laws.
The Comptroller General of Immigration has directed that the suspects and exhibits be handed over to the Nigeria Police Force for further investigation.
A popular Kano social media political commentator, Ibrahim Khalil Dan Shagamu, has been reportedly killed in his apartment in Kano State.
Dan Shagamu, who operated under the brand Dan-shagamu International, was known for his social media videos and commentary on political, religious and community issues.
Amnesty International Nigeria confirmed his killing in a statement posted on X on Wednesday, saying his body was found in a pool of blood at his home.
“Amnesty International strongly condemns the killing of a social media political commentator Ibrahim Khalil Dan Shagamu whose body was found today in a pool of blood at his home in Kano,” the organisation said.
“He was brutally slaughtered after being overpowered by his killers.”
Details surrounding the circumstances of the killing were still unclear as of Wednesday.Amnesty International called on the Nigerian authorities to investigate the killing and ensure that those responsible are brought to justice.
“The Nigerian authorities must investigate this incident and ensure that those suspected of responsibility are brought to justice,” it said, while tagging the Nigeria Police Force.
The rights organisation also expressed concern over what it described as increasing politically related threats and intimidation ahead of the elections.
“As the elections approach, we continue to receive disturbing reports of politically related threats to life and intimidation,” Amnesty said.
News of Dan Shagamu’s death has sparked an outpouring of grief among his followers and residents, with many taking to social media to express shock and offer prayers for his soul.
Reports circulating on social media said Dan Shagamu was killed in a gruesome manner, with some describing the attack as “yankan rago”, a Hausa expression referring to throat-slitting.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio has petitioned the Department of State Services (DSS) to investigate a viral social media statement allegedly attributed to him in which he purportedly warned Northerners that they would “suffer the most” if President Bola Tinubu loses the 2027 election.
The statement, circulated on Facebook and other digital platforms alongside Akpabio’s photograph and official designation, has sparked controversy, prompting the Senate President to formally deny making the remark.
In a petition signed by his Chief of Staff, Chinedu Akubueze, Akpabio described the publication as “manifestly false, inflammatory and dangerously divisive,” urging the DSS to investigate its origin and distribution.
The viral graphic attributes the following statement to Akpabio: “Northerners, you will be the ones to suffer the most, if you allow Tinubu to lose the election.”
Akpabio, however, said there is no credible evidence linking him to the statement.
According to the petition, no identifiable date, venue, speech, interview, audio or video recording, official statement or credible media report has been produced to authenticate the alleged quotation.
The Senate President alleged that the graphic was deliberately fabricated and presented as an authentic statement with the aim of misleading the public, inflaming regional sentiments and portraying him as hostile to Nigerians from the North.
Akpabio also drew the DSS’s attention to several individuals allegedly identified through a preliminary review of publicly accessible Facebook records as among the early amplifiers of the disputed material.
The petition named Abdullai Musa, who allegedly shared the graphic in a Facebook group known as “Sheik Muhammad bin Uthman Group 24,” and Uzoma Chilaka, whose Facebook post allegedly reproduced the graphic alongside commentary attributed to Boniface Uzoma Chilaka and Engineer Ibrahim Umar Ammar.
It further referenced a verified Facebook account belonging to Ibrahim Umar Ammar, which allegedly later reproduced the graphic and substantially similar commentary.
Akpabio’s office, however, stressed that the individuals mentioned in the petition should not be presumed guilty, describing them only as “material persons of interest” whose activities could assist investigators in tracing the origin and circulation of the disputed publication.
The Senate President is asking the DSS to investigate the publication records, devices, communications and provenance of the graphic in accordance with Nigerian law.
The petition comes amid heightened political activity ahead of the 2027 general elections and growing concerns over the spread of inflammatory, misleading and fabricated political content on social media.
The statement was issued by Jackson Udom, Special Assistant to the President of the Senate on Media.
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