In addition to the cash assistance that China has provided to Venezuela, the Chinese government has decided to provide emergency supplies worth of 100 million yuan ($14.7 million) as donations that will be soon delivered to Venezuela in support of its disaster response and reconstruction effort, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Monday.
A strong aftershock jolted Venezuela early Monday following last week’s devastating back-to-back earthquakes, as civilians and emergency responders kept combing through the ruins of fallen buildings for survivors, the Associated Press reported.
The death toll from last week’s twin earthquakes in Venezuela approached 1,500 people as foreign rescue teams poured into La Guaira, the hardest-hit state of the country, per Reuters on Sunday.
“Rescue and recovery efforts are ongoing,” said Venezuelan Acting President Delcy Rodriguez on Sunday, adding that they have recovered people alive and operations are not being suspended.
“We always maintain hope,” Rodriguez said, after announcing a presidential commission that would determine the habitability of buildings, according to Reuters.
When asked about what disaster relief assistance China has provided to Venezuela as the death toll and injuries caused by the devastating earthquakes continues to rise, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun noted at the Monday press conference that China also provided satellite imagery to the quake zones for disaster response operations. Guo added that Chinese companies and associations of overseas Chinese in Venezuela voluntarily provided urgently needed machinery and medical supplies and set up rescue teams to actively search for survivors.
Overseas Chinese in quake-hit Venezuela have donated relief supplies, according to the Chinese Embassy in Venezuela. The supplies were donated by the Federation of Chinese Associations in Venezuela and other Chinese community groups. The supplies, including bottled water, biscuits, diapers, milk, rice, sugar and fish, have benefited nearly 10,000 families affected by the disaster, Xinhua News Agency reported on Sunday.
Xu Guocheng, secretary-general of the Federation of Chinese Associations in Venezuela, said that the federation has collected more than 500 tons of relief supplies to date, Beijing Daily reported on Monday.
Disaster relief supplies are primarily being sent to hard-hit areas in La Guaira State, where water, electricity and internet services remain cut off, Xu was quoted as saying.
Xu also said that the federation prioritized rescue efforts from the very start, adding that over 30 volunteers took part in relief work on Sunday, with the youngest being just 13 years old.
Global Times
