June 26
Families in earthquake-devastated Venezuela
spent a second night sheltering in open spaces amid fears of
further building collapses and raising serious concerns over
children’s safety and their immediate needs, Save the
Children said.
Venezuela has declared a national
emergency following two consecutive 7.5 and 7.2 magnitude
earthquakes in the north-central region of the country,
putting thousands of children and families at risk.
[1]
At least 255 people have been killed and 4,500
injured as of 25 June, according to the country’s health
ministry, although these numbers are likely to
rise.
Save the Children’s teams and local partners
on the ground have reported child deaths and injuries and
children have been confirmed separated from their families
during evacuations in the capital Caracas and La Guaira – a
major port city.
Fatima Andraca, Save the Children’s
Country Director in Venezuela, fled her old, 12-storey
building barefoot through an outside staircase when the
interior stairs of the building were too damaged to
use.
Fatima said:
“There is devastation and
destruction everywhere you look and many children and
families, including here in Caracas, have been forced to
spend another night sheltering in open
spaces.
“Families are clutching what few belongings
they managed to save, children are in the open streets too
scared to return to their destroyed homes which are unsafe.
The safety of children is a serious concern and our top
priority.
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“In the days and weeks ahead, children will
need protection, psychosocial support, safe water and safe
spaces as communities recover from this cataclysmic
event.”
Save the Children and its partners have teams
on the ground in affected areas who will be responding to
children and families impacted, providing child protection,
shelter, health services, food and emergency relief
items.
In Aotearoa New Zealand, Save
the Children has launched an emergency
appeal to support the response in Venezuela.
Save
the Children New Zealand CEO Heather Campbell said as New
Zealanders, we understand all too well the devastation
earthquakes can bring to families and
communities.
“That’s why we have launched this
emergency appeal – to urgently support children and
families in Venezuela. Children are always the most
vulnerable in disasters like this, and they need immediate
protection, care, and support. We are calling on New
Zealanders to stand with us and act now to help deliver
life-saving assistance where it’s needed most.”
Save
the Children has been working in Venezuela since 2019. Since
the humanitarian crisis started to rapidly deteriorate a few
years ago, Save the Children has been scaling up its
response through local partners to support the increasing
number of children in need. Save the Children is delivering
health, nutrition, education, child protection, shelter,
water, sanitation and hygiene and food security and
livelihoods support.
References:
[1] OCHA: https://reliefweb.int/report/venezuela-bolivarian-republic/earthquakes-venezuela-situation-report-2-25-june-2026-time-300-pm
