Brazil will have a new humanitarian flight to Venezuela and will send a field hospital

According to Itamaraty, Brazil will send a new flight with humanitarian aid to support Venezuela after the country was hit by earthquakes last Wednesday night (24).

The most recent death toll from the tremors, which killed two Brazilians, is 580, according to interim president Delcy Rodríguez.

The mission, scheduled for this Saturday (27), will take equipment to set up a field hospital, with medicines and medical supplies, as well as 100 water purifiers with solar panels and sanitary and hospital support materials.

To date, the FAB (Brazilian Air Force) has not yet confirmed the time and place of takeoff.

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) also authorized a flight, scheduled for this Friday morning (26), leaving Guarulhos (SP) with an Urban Rescue team, made up of 44 professionals, four from Sedec/MIDR (National Secretariat for Civil Protection and Defense); 36 from the Military Fire Departments of Minas Gerais, São Paulo and Paraná; and four experts from Anatel (National Telecommunications Agency).

The plateau informed that the teams will work to rescue victims trapped in collapsed structures and will have doctors, sniffer dogs and specialized equipment necessary for search and rescue operations.

Historically, the first 48 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.

Understand the disaster
The north coast of Venezuela was hit, on Wednesday night, 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 Venezuelan Ministry of Health estimates that there are more than 4,300 injured. Authorities believe around 200 people are still trapped under rubble and another 157 are missing.

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.

Teams search for survivors after earthquakes in Venezuela | LIVE CNN

Source: CNN