Venezuela has entered a period of official grief as the authorities declared seven days of national mourning in the wake of the twin earthquakes that struck the country. The announcement, made by interim president Delcy Rodríguez, reflects the scale of a disaster that has left thousands dead and tens of thousands more unaccounted for.
According to the latest figures, the earthquakes have left 2,295 people dead. The toll marks a further rise from earlier counts and underlines how the impact of the disaster has continued to grow in the days since the ground first shook, as rescue teams reach more sites and recover more victims from collapsed structures.
Alongside the confirmed deaths, around 50,000 people are still listed as missing. That figure hangs over the recovery effort, because it raises the grim possibility that the death toll could climb higher as searchers work through the rubble and try to account for those who have not been found since the earthquakes hit.
Even amid the mourning, there have been moments of hope. Six days after the disaster, a three-year-old boy was pulled alive from the rubble. Rescuers said that his vital signs were still looking good, a rare piece of encouraging news in an operation otherwise dominated by loss and by the painful task of recovering the dead.
Interim president Delcy Rodríguez described the little boy's rescue as a source of hope, casting the moment as a reminder of why the search must continue. Experience from other major earthquakes has shown that trapped people can sometimes survive for extended periods, which helps sustain the determination of rescue crews still combing through the debris.
For Venezuela, the days of national mourning formalise a grief that has spread across the country and beyond, and they come as the authorities balance the solemn work of honouring the dead with the urgent effort to find survivors. With so many still missing, the coming days are expected to remain critical, both for the families waiting for news and for a nation trying to come to terms with the disaster.