Loss of Life in the Earthquake in Venezuela Increased to 5 Thousand 346, DNA Sample Request

Venezuelan National Assembly (AN) President Jorge Rodriguez, in his statement on his social media account, stated that the number of people who lost their lives in the earthquake increased by 68, reaching 5 thousand 346, and the number of injured increased to 16 thousand 740.

According to news in the national media, the Venezuelan government asked volunteers to provide DNA samples in order to identify those who lost their lives in the earthquakes.

In the joint statement of the National Forensic Medicine and Sciences Service (Senamecf) and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, families who thought their relatives might be in the La Guaira province, which was most affected by the earthquake, or in the Bello Monte morgue in the capital Caracas, were asked to provide a DNA sample to carry out the identification process.

While Venezuelan authorities did not make an official statement about the number of missing people, 29,500 people were recorded as missing on the website of the civil initiative called "Desaparecidos Terremoto Venezuela" (Venezuela Earthquake Losses), which reported those whose relatives were not heard from after the earthquakes.