Five Portuguese citizens, four of whom belong to the same family, are missing in La Guaira, Venezuela, following Wednesday’s double earthquake that left dozens dead and hundreds injured, according to the Portuguese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Portuguese diplomats, who have not yet received any reports of fatalities among their citizens, admitted that there could be many more Portuguese nationals and individuals of Portuguese descent affected, given the immense scale of the diaspora in the country.
Venezuela is home to one of the largest Portuguese communities in the world and the second-largest in Latin America. According to official data, the population originates predominantly from the Madeira archipelago, as well as from the central (Aveiro) and northern (Porto) regions of Portugal.
It is estimated that roughly 1.2 million Portuguese citizens and people of Portuguese descent currently reside in Venezuela.
Read more about this topic: Venezuela: 7.2/7.5 earthquakes leave 164 dead and 971 injured (with videos)
The Portuguese Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasized that the next 24 to 48 hours remain the critical priority window to rescue as many lives as possible.
The first earthquake, measuring a magnitude of 7.2, struck approximately 200 kilometers from Caracas. It was followed by a second, stronger quake of magnitude 7.5 and around 20 aftershocks, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
Dozens of buildings collapsed or sustained severe structural damage in the La Guaira region, located just north of Caracas, which has emerged as one of the most heavily impacted disaster zones.
Venezuelan authorities have officially declared a state of emergency.
