Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam's military and police team conducted search and rescue operations in Venezuela's hardest-hit state of La Guaira on June 30 (local time), working through extreme heat and heavy rain to locate victims of the twin earthquakes.
Personnel from the Vietnam People's Army and the People's Public Security Force were deployed to different locations. In addition to their assigned missions, they also responded to requests from victims' families by searching nearby areas for those still missing.
Early that morning, Türkiye's rescue team reported possible signs of life at one of the disaster sites but ran out of fuel, prompting Venezuelan authorities to seek assistance from other international rescue teams. Responding immediately, the Vietnamese contingent, led by Major General Pham Van Ty, Deputy Director of the Rescue and Salvage Department under the General Staff of the Vietnam People's Army, deployed personnel and equipment to the site. Working alongside a Mexican rescue team, they continued the search despite heavy rain.
Meanwhile, officers and soldiers from Vietnam's Ministry of Public Security focused rescue efforts at a nine-storey apartment building in La Guaira that nearly collapsed in the twin earthquakes on June 24. Authorities believe 15 people remain trapped beneath the rubble.
Earlier the same day, Vietnam handed over humanitarian aid to support Venezuela's recovery from the devastating earthquakes as part of the two countries' friendship, solidarity, and cooperation.
Vietnam is among 30 countries that have dispatched rescue teams to assist the disaster-stricken nation./.
