Foreign
Venezuela Quake Death Toll Rises To 2,954 — Official Figures
Venezuela’s devastating twin earthquakes have killed nearly 3,000, official figures showed on Saturday, as international rescue teams began winding down search operations for survivors in the rubble.
Fatalities jumped by more than 300 from Friday to 2,954, following the June 24 disaster that left thousands homeless in the streets and shelter camps.
Tens of thousands more are still missing.
One of Latin America’s worst earthquake disasters hit hardest in the coastal La Guaira area north of the capital Caracas, where scores of residential complexes were flattened.
Ten days after the 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude double shocks, rescue teams are starting to wrap up searches for survivors while families still try to recover bodies of loved ones from the rubble.
The critical window for rescues in disasters like earthquakes usually ends after 72 hours, though a few people have been found alive this week.
In an apparent sign that rescue missions were closing up, interim President Delcy Rodriquez held a ceremony to hand out medals to international teams, including some to their dogs.
Venezuela is experiencing “a profound grief gripping our people, where families still hold out hope of finding loved ones alive, people who have lost everything,” Rodriquez said.
International disaster teams, including some US squads, and some South American teams were starting to finish up rescue operations, their members said on Saturday.
The Los Angeles County fire department rescue team is closing up its operations after latest searches showed no signs of life, and teams from Florida and Virginia were packing up to leave this weekend, their teams said.
Many Venezuelans have expressed anger at what they see as their government’s slow response to the disaster, saying families spent initial hours digging out loved ones themselves before international teams arrived.
Rodriguez has defended her government’s response, saying thousands of troops and officials had been dispatched.
In La Guaira, workers with heavy machinery on Saturday were starting to knock down collapsed structures while in others families were still trying to remove bodies of loved ones for funerals.
“We’re still working, still searching for bodies. We’re still going. It hasn’t been easy,” said Venezuelan volunteer Francisco Sasquia helping dig out a collapsed residence.
“We found two bodies that have already been released to their families.”
Many are now homeless; more than 16,000 Venezuelans have lost their residences in the quakes. Hospitals are stretched, with experts warning of the risk of disease outbreaks.
For Víctor Colivert, the most important thing is staying by the side of his nephew’s body, recovered from a building’s wreckage and now in a black body bag.
He fears losing it in the chaos. His family prevented forensic workers from taking the body away.
“If I have to go to China, to wherever, but I’m not leaving him alone,” he said. “I’m going with him.”
Meanwhile, with little hope of finding loved ones alive, frustrated families of those affected by Venezuela’s double earthquakes clamoured for help to recover their loved ones’ bodies Friday as uncertainty grew over the death toll from the tragedy.
Authorities on Friday reported a total of 2,645 deaths and more than 12,000 wounded from the 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes that struck the country last week, with most fatalities in the coastal town of La Guaira, where scores of residential complexes were flattened.
Officials have avoided estimating the number of missing, though the UN has put that figure at as many as 50,000.
Many survivors who were left homeless, meanwhile, are sleeping in the streets or in makeshift shelters set up in parks and public spaces.
Nine days after one of Latin America’s worst earthquake disasters, rescue teams were beginning to wind down search operations for survivors, although many relatives still clung desperately to any sound from the rubble as a sign of life.
In front of the Tahiti building in the Caraballeda sector of La Guaira, one rescuer reported hearing shouts from an adult in the early morning hours on Friday.
Reports also emerged that a 9-year-old boy had been found alive, but foreign rescuers told AFP there was no trace of any survivors.
Outside Tahiti, frustrations boiled over as families trying to recover bodies shouted at others wanting to clear the way for a potential rescue.
“Until I recover the bodies, I won’t be at peace,” said Jose Francisco Liendo, who was trying to dig out the remains of his father and sister.
“Don’t let the machines come and take them away like garbage.”
Stabilizing presence
Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodriguez has suggested there is still a possibility of finding survivors, but after nine days, that scenario is remote.
The critical window for rescues in such disasters usually closes after 72 hours, though a few people have miraculously been found alive this week.
Rodriguez assumed interim power after the capture of Nicolas Maduro in a US military operation six months ago.
The government’s response to the tragedy has been the target of harsh criticism from many in La Guaira, who denounced the absence of rescuers until the arrival of international brigades.
Many residents in La Guaira said neighbours, family members, and volunteers were the first to remove rubble and search for people by hand.
AFP witnessed one volunteer urging soldiers to put down their rifles and help with the rubble removal. Rodriguez has defended the official response and denounced the backlash as media manipulation.
“Anyone who wants to audit the reality is welcome,” she said in her first formal press conference as president on Thursday.
The interim president currently has the support of US President Donald Trump’s administration. The United States is helping coordinate international rescue efforts in Venezuela.
But exiled opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado, who wants to return to the country, criticized the government response.
“The total absence of the state has become evident; the country needs figures it can trust,” she told correspondents in Venezuela via Zoom, arguing she would be a stabilizing presence there.
‘Dead inside’
Rodriguez has ruled out the possibility of the dead ending up in mass graves and ordered their proper identification.
A makeshift morgue is operating outdoors in the port of La Guaira, where long lines formed to receive the bodies of loved ones and their death certificates.
La Guaira State Governor Jose Alejandro Teran told AFP that more than 170 buildings had been completed destroyed and more than 700 damaged by the earthquakes.
Authorities were supplying between 40 to 50 tons of humanitarian aid a day to those staying in temporary camps, he said.
But many families are denouncing a lack of support and heavy machinery needed in the recovery of bodies from collapsed buildings.
“They tell us no, that they’re looking for the living, but what about the dead? Aren’t they human beings too?” said Dalimer Diaz, 43.
“Nobody wants to remove the dead; we have to retrieve the bodies ourselves. We need machinery to help us.”
Soldiers later arrived at the Tahiti building where residents had been arguing. A Spanish brigade also came with a crane to begin removing rubble.
Aloa Gonzalez was waiting for her sister’s body, buried under blocks and concrete.
“I just came from burying my father and mother, and I came here to rescue my sister,” she said.
“How do I feel? Dead inside,” she said. “I can’t believe it. I don’t want to stop because I don’t want to face the reality of what’s happening.”
AFP
A Cessna 550 Citation Bravo carrying Brazilian singer Rey Vaqueiro and seven other people has overrun the runway while landing at Parelhas Airport in Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil.
The aircraft, with registration PP-WMO, was involved in the incident during the early hours of Sunday, September 13, according to aviation news platform FL360aero, which reported the incident in a post on X.
The aircraft reportedly ran beyond the runway while landing at the airport and subsequently caught fire, with both engines said to have been engulfed in flames.
Firefighters battled the blaze for approximately five hours before it was brought under control.
All eight people on board, comprising six passengers and two crew members, reportedly evacuated the aircraft.
Some of the occupants were said to have sustained minor injuries, while no serious injuries were reported.
The aircraft was destroyed by the fire.
The circumstances surrounding the incident remain under investigation by Brazil’s Centre for Investigation and Prevention of Aeronautical Accidents (CENIPA).
The incident involved a Cessna 550 Citation Bravo, a business jet commonly used for private and charter flights.
More flights are expected to be delayed in the United Kingdom (UK) after a technical problem with the country’s air traffic control system led to more than 2,000 cancellations.
A total of 291 flights were cancelled on Wednesday after 1,750 were cancelled on Tuesday, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium. Tens of thousands of passengers have been affected by the disruption.
National Air Traffic Services (NATS), the UK’s air traffic control provider, blamed the disruption on a technical glitch. Its chief executive, Martin Rolfe, apologised and said a full investigation would be carried out.
He admitted that resolving the problem had taken “longer than hoped”.
Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband described the outage as “unacceptable”, while Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander summoned Rolfe to explain what happened.
The disruption affected several major UK airports, including Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester and Birmingham. Airports in Ireland also reported disruption.
At Heathrow, departures were initially paused on Tuesday before operations resumed and then faced further disruption later in the day.
Heathrow said its operations were recovering on Wednesday but warned passengers of further delays because aircraft and crew needed to be repositioned.
Gatwick also said flights had resumed but warned that it would take time for operations to return fully to normal.
Passengers have been advised to check directly with their airlines before travelling to airports. Heathrow said passengers should only travel if they have a confirmed flight.
The technical fault affected NATS’ flight data processing system. Rolfe said it was not the same system that failed during a major disruption in 2023.
However, the latest incident is the third technical problem experienced by NATS in three years. A computer shutdown in 2023 caused widespread disruption affecting around 700,000 passengers, while another outage in 2025 resulted in about 150 cancellations.
Airlines including Ryanair and Wizz Air have called for changes to NATS. Wizz Air UK managing director Yvonne Moynihan said the company needed to consider whether NATS was “fit for purpose”.
Despite the disruption, Rolfe defended the UK’s air traffic control system, saying it remained one of the best in the world.
However, former NATS air traffic control manager Doug Maclean said repeated failures were undermining the system’s reputation.
Even though the technical issue has been resolved, passengers are expected to face further disruption because of the backlog of flights, aircraft and crew.
NATS said it was working to restore normal operations as quickly as possible.
(BBC News)
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will not be working royals allowed to carry out official engagements now they have returned to the UK, a letter sent on behalf of King Charles spells out.
The letter is intended to clarify the status of Prince Harry and Meghan, who moved back from California with children Archie and Lilibet last month.
They will still not be able to use titles of “His and Her Royal Highness”, and remain “private citizens”, says the letter sent on behalf of the King by the Lord Chamberlain, a top Palace official.
It comes as Prince Harry appears to have been pictured for the first time since his return, with a photo on social media showing him at a London TV and podcast studio.
The King’s letter has been sent to Prince Harry’s team, government departments, military officials and Lord Lieutenants, according to Palace sources.
Lord Lieutenants, who are the monarch’s local representatives, and government staff are often involved in royal visits and engagements.
This letter makes clear that any engagements carried out by the Sussexes will be in a private capacity and they will not be representing the Royal Family.
It seems to be something of a shot across the bows, making clear that any Prince Harry and Meghan visits should not be treated as royal engagements.
This comes ahead of what are likely to be public appearances by the Sussexes this autumn, as they settle in the UK and support their charities.
The couple have kept a low profile, but the first picture of Prince Harry since coming back to the UK appears to have been posted on the social media account of Tower Bridge Studios in London.
The message from the King emphasises that the position agreed in 2020 when the Sussexes left the UK – the so-called Sandringham Agreement – is still in place.
This ruled out any “half-in and half-out” status, so Harry and Meghan could not pursue their own commercial interests while continuing to be working royals.
“It is well known that in January 2020 the Duke and Duchess stepped down from undertaking representative duties on behalf of the Sovereign, and are no longer working members of the Royal Family,” the letter says.
The letter sent on behalf of the King makes it clear that this remains the case.
“The charitable work of the Duke and Duchess is a personal matter for them both and undertaken in their private capacity,” it adds.
The King’s message says that any questions from organisations about the reception to be given to the Sussexes, “particularly where recourse to public funds may be required, should be directed to Buckingham Palace”.
Prince Harry and Meghan faced an acrimonious departure from the UK in 2020, which they chronicled in their Netflix documentary.
They established their financial independence in California, including Prince Harry writing a best-selling memoir Spare and Meghan creating an online food range, As Ever.
This summer the couple made a surprise return to the UK, where their children will be going to school.
It’s expected that Prince Harry will be supporting his charities, including the Invictus Games, which are due to be held in Birmingham next year.
There have been reports that Meghan is considering a return to acting.
Disputes about Prince Harry and Meghan’s security in the UK remain unresolved and the letter spells out: “Any operational security issues should continue to be directed to the relevant police authorities.”
Prince Harry has complained about a lack of adequate police protection in the UK, but the Palace says that has to be addressed by the Royal and VIP Executive Committee – known as Ravec – which decides security for royals and public figures.
Palace sources have suggested it was better to make the Lord Chamberlain’s letter public, in a spirit of transparency, rather than risk it emerging in leaks.
Prince Harry and Meghan’s representatives have been contacted for a response.
Nigeria-India Deepen Ties as Trade, Consular Issues Dominate BRICS Talks
Nigeria Eyes India’s Tech Edge, Youth Power at BRICS Summit
Wike: Tinubu privy to my rainbow coalition, says I’m not answerable to APC governors
-
News18 hours agoI’Ve Nothing To Hide, Nothing To Fear – Senator Buba On Banditry Allegations
-
Economy18 hours agoDangote Refinery IPO Rush Overwhelms Two Investment Sites
-
News18 hours agoUCH Ibadan Emerges As Nigeria’s Top Health Institution In 2026
-
News12 hours agoKaru Residents Hail Tinubu, Wike As Road Project Ends Years Of Traffic, Flooding Woes(Photos)
-
News18 hours agoI Don’t Want To Be Called The Richest Man In Africa — Dangote
-
Metro18 hours agoKidnappers Abandon Victim, Flee At Police Checkpoint In Anambra