Venezuela quake death toll reaches

Rescue teams raced on Sunday to find more survivors of the two powerful earthquakes that struck Venezuela, with signs of life bringing occasional relief to a grim quest to whittle down a list of tens of thousands missing.



The death toll from Wednesday's twin earthquakes rose to at least 1,450 as of Saturday as foreign rescue teams poured into La Guaira, the hardest-hit state of a country already mired in a deep political and economic crisis.



Dozens of buildings collapsed into piles of sand and rubble in the coastal state, about 40 kilometers north of Caracas.



"We must report that the number of fatalities has reached 1,450 people, women and men who lost their lives as a result of the most brutal natural catastrophe that our country has ever suffered in its history," said interim President Delcy Rodriguez.



Some 3,150 people remained injured, 12,721 have been displaced, and 774 buildings have collapsed, she said.



The government — headed by Rodriguez since her predecessor was ousted by the U.S. in a January raid — had thanked civilian volunteers ferrying aid to La Guaira, but then tightened access to the road, saying traffic was preventing efficient movement of emergency vehicles.