[Anchor]

Recovery efforts following the earthquake remain slow, and with aftershocks and heavy rain forecast for Venezuela, there are growing concerns over further damage. The death toll is rising rapidly as time passes, and the United Nations is preparing for the worst-case scenario, including the procurement of 10,000 body bags.

Reported by Kim Young-a.

[Reporter]

A stretcher finally emerges through a narrow gap in the rubble.

After a grueling 43-hour rescue operation, a 21-year-old man has been miraculously saved.

He had been trapped in his collapsed home for 106 hours following the earthquake.

[Aaron Levi Cantillio (Rescued after 106 hours): I thank God. I just heard that I am the only survivor from that building.]

In La Guaira, where the damage is concentrated, it has been confirmed that over 120 illegal immigrants deported from the United States have gone missing.

A group of 146 people, including 7 children, had arrived in Venezuela just before the earthquake struck, and the hotel where they were staying on their first day back collapsed.

So far, only about 20 survivors have been identified among them.

[Rincon Avila/Family member of a missing illegal immigrant: Please, help us. I have been waiting here for days. Please let us take our loved ones home.]

While some 2,000 rescue workers from 27 countries and local residents are struggling to save survivors, the death toll jumped by 269 in a single day, reaching 1,719, with over 5,000 people injured.

As the golden time for finding survivors passes, the United Nations is preparing for the worst.

[Gianluca Rampolla del Tindaro/UN Resident Coordinator in Venezuela: We are coordinating with local authorities to prepare 10,000 body bags.]

Aftershocks have occurred more than 600 times, and a tropical wave—a low-pressure trough accompanied by heavy rain—is forecast, raising fears of significant additional damage.

NASA, through satellite analysis, estimates that approximately 58,000 buildings across Venezuela have already collapsed or been damaged by this powerful earthquake.

(Video Editing: Lee Seung-yeol)