UN disaster assessment team coordinates ongoing search-and-rescue in earthquake-hit Venezuela, aid worker says

Rescue teams in Venezuela are continuing efforts to find people believed to be trapped under rubble after an earthquake, with an international disaster assessment team helping coordinate logistics and information, an aid worker told NPR on Monday.

In an interview reported by NPR World, Steve Inskeep spoke with Sebastian Mocarquer, who is part of the United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) team. Mocarquer said the focus of ongoing operations is on the search for earthquake survivors, alongside the practical challenges of reaching affected areas and determining where heavy rescue work is needed most.

The UNDAC team’s role, as described in the interview, is to support coordination during the early phase of a disaster. That coordination includes helping organize assessment information so that responders can act on the most urgent needs, including where people may still be alive and where access constraints are slowing recovery work.

Mocarquer described the rescue effort as an ongoing, time-sensitive operation, with responders working through unstable debris and difficult conditions typical of earthquake scenes. He also indicated that the flow of information from the field is a key part of keeping rescue resources targeted and reducing delays between assessment and action.

The interview framed the rescue work as both a technical and organizational task. In addition to physical search activities, teams must manage communications and route planning, coordinate between international and local actors, and track changing conditions as debris is cleared and locations become accessible.

As search-and-rescue continues, the immediate priority remains locating survivors and moving them to medical care. The next steps, according to the UNDAC coordination approach discussed in the NPR interview, depend on updated assessments from the field and sustained coordination to transition from emergency rescue to broader response tasks.

For affected families, the work means continued hope alongside prolonged uncertainty, as rescue operations unfold block by block and site by site. For governments and international partners, the UNDAC presence underscores the emphasis on structured coordination, which can affect the speed at which critical information and specialized capabilities reach the hardest-hit locations.