Brazil today sends second flight to Venezuela to set up field hospital

The FAB (Brazilian Air Force) sends, this Saturday (27), a second flight with humanitarian aid to Venezuela as the country recovers from the impacts caused by an earthquake this week. The plane - a KC 390 Millennium - will carry a Navy field hospital and a medical team that will provide support to the injured.

The aircraft is scheduled to take off from Galeão Air Base, in Rio de Janeiro, at 11am. In addition to the hospital structure and teams, 100 water purifiers, medicines and surgical materials will be loaded onto the flight.

The first FAB flight with humanitarian aid took off in the early afternoon of Friday (26). The aircraft was destined for the city of Maracay, located in northern Venezuela, the region most affected by the earthquake.

The focus of the mission was to provide rescue teams to the neighbor. The flight carried 36 firefighters, four technicians from the National Civil Defense and four technicians from Anatel (National Telecommunications Agency), as well as twelve tons of emergency equipment.

Historically, the first 48 hours to 72 hours after a quake are widely considered the "golden window" for reaching trapped people alive. After this period, the chances of survival without a water source decrease rapidly.

Last Thursday (25), Lula said he had spoken to Delcy Rodríguez, interim president of Venezuela, to let her know that he would send supplies to the country.

The disaster
According to data updated on Friday night, the death toll following the earthquakes in Venezuela rose to 920, according to Jorge Rodríguez, president of the country's National Assembly. Another 3,360 people were injured.

The north coast of Venezuela was hit, on Wednesday night (24), by two of the biggest earthquakes to affect the country in more than a century. The magnitude of the tremors were 7.2 and 7.5 on the Richter scale.

The tremors, considered two of the largest earthquakes in the modern history of Latin America, hit a region about 160 km west of Caracas, the country's capital, while Venezuelans were enjoying a holiday.

The coastal state of La Guaira suffered the worst damage and was declared a disaster zone. The situation in the state is a "true tragedy", and dozens of buildings have collapsed, reported Delcy Rodríguez.

Earthquakes in Venezuela: 44-year-old Brazilian woman is among the victims of the tragedy | CNN 360°

Source: CNN