CARACAS - The United States military repaired and reopened a key seaport in the hardest hit area of Venezuela on Monday.
By the latest official count, some 1,700 are dead and 5,000 are injured, with no governmental word on the number missing. Other estimates place these in the tens of thousands.
The Port of La Guaira re-opened, where an AFP correspondent observed a warehouse storing hundreds of unidentified bodies encased in white and black body bags as well as a few coffins. The USS Fort Lauderdale was docked and delivering aid.
American airmen were also helping restore traffic at Simon Bolivar International Airport near Caracas, which was also heavily damaged.
A total of 27 countries have mobilised nearly 40 search and rescue teams.
They include more than 2,000 troops and personnel, along with more than 160 dogs, according to Gianluca Rampolla, the United Nations coordinator in Venezuela.
- AFP