Venezuelas government said on Saturday 1,600 members of foreign rescue teams had arrived to help search for survivors of the devastating twin earthquakes which killed more than 900 people this week as it tightened access to the worst-affected state.
Residents and volunteers in La Guaira, a popular destination for beachgoers where at least 100 buildings, many residential high-rises, were destroyed or damaged, have for days decried shortages of heavy equipment and a limited official presence.
Venezuelas interim President Delcy Rodriguez said in an overnight address on state television that 10 more countries were still to join rescue efforts and 14,000 military and police members were in La Guaira to patrol and take sanitary measures.