Hope fades, hunger sets in a week after Venezuela quakes

LA GUAIRA/CARACAS:

Hope of finding more survivors faded Wednesday as Venezuela marked a week since twin earthquakes killed almost 2,000 people, while many who lived through the disaster were running desperately short on food.

Venezuela's interim president Delcy Rodriguez declared seven days of mourning, saying the country's "soul is torn apart by the human losses."

Tens of thousands of people remain unaccounted for.

The majority of collapsed buildings in the hardest-hit city of La Guaira, just north of Caracas, have been marked with the letter 'D' for 'deceased' -- a sign they had been searched and showed no signs of life.

"Time isn't wasted in a place where there is no expectation of recovering people alive," said Javier Rodes, the coordinator of a Spanish rescue team whose sniffer dog Nala searched in vain through the rubble for traces of life.

There have been miracle survivors, such as a three-year-old boy found alive Tuesday, six days after Venezuela's most powerful quake in over a century.

But experts say trapped victims are unlikely to survive more than 72 hours after an earthquake. Venezuela's National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez said Tuesday that deaths had risen to 1,943. The United Nations estimates 50,000 people are missing.

Two powerful quakes, measuring 7.2 and 7.5, shattered entire neighborhoods in oil-rich Venezuela, which has suffered decades of economic crisis that had devastated infrastructure and health services.

The country is in a fragile transition six months after the United States ousted leader Nicolas Maduro.

International rescue teams arrived from around the globe to dig out survivors, while locals are furious at the absence of the state in the aftermath of the disaster.

With daily life in ruins, the focus is now shifting to survival. Many are homeless and food and water are becoming hard to find.