The death toll from powerful back-to-back earthquakes that struck Venezuela on Wednesday has risen to 164, president Delcy Rodriguez has said.
More than 10,000 people have also been reported missing, with rescuers searching among huge mounds of rubble after the quakes west of Caracas on Wednesday afternoon.
At least 900 people have also been reported injured after two earthquakes of magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 struck within 39 seconds of each other.
Venezuelans have described the scene in the country as “like a horror movie”, as emergency workers scrambled through the damage while dazed survivors were rushed away on stretchers.
Meanwhile, families are desperately seeking help for their loved ones who are feared trapped.
“We had to climb over the rubble and everything,” said Maria Alejandra. “The building superintendent with the baby and all the neighbors coming down. But from that building, I only saw that one family got out.”
Interim president Delcy Rodriguez declared a state of emergency after the earthquakes caused building collapses in Caracas and forced the closure of the country’s main international airport.
The US Geological Survey said there was a 44 per cent probability that fatalities could exceed 10,000.