Announcement was made by the resident of the Government of Madeira, Miguel Albuquerque
The president of the Government of Madeira said this Thursday that he was aware of the death of at least two Portuguese-descendant citizens with links to the autonomous region, following the earthquakes in Venezuela.
Speaking to journalists, on the sidelines of a visit to the Cider Festival, in Funchal, Miguel Albuquerque highlighted that “the situation is very complicated and very serious”.
The official indicated that numbers and information are still scarce, but assured that he was aware, through personal contacts made, “of at least two Portuguese descendants who lost their lives”.
Regarding the missing, he said there are many, pointing out, however, that at this moment the operations involve rescuing people who are in the rubble, and it is not possible to count the number of missing people from the Madeiran community in the country.
Miguel Albuquerque said that the regional secretary of Civil Protection, Micaela Freitas, spoke with the Secretary of State in charge and made herself available to join the teams that will carry out rescue operations in the coming days.
Two major earthquakes were recorded in Venezuela on Wednesday, causing at least 164 deaths and more than 900 injuries, according to the provisional official report.
According to the Portuguese Government, a Portuguese man died following these earthquakes. The victim, a male, was pulled from the rubble alive, but ended up dying on the way to the hospital.
The Portuguese Ministry of Foreign Affairs had already announced that at least five Portuguese people, four of whom were from one family, were missing following these earthquakes.
The first magnitude 7.2 earthquake occurred about 200 kilometers from Caracas, followed by a second magnitude 7.5 and about 20 aftershocks, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
Dozens of buildings collapsed or were seriously damaged in the La Guaira region, north of Caracas, one of the most affected.
Venezuelan authorities have declared a state of emergency.
The Portuguese community in Venezuela is one of the largest in the diaspora, being the second largest in Latin America, after Brazil.
More than 80% of the community originates from the Autonomous Region of Madeira, but there are also Portuguese from the north of mainland Portugal, mainly from Aveiro, and to a lesser extent from the Azores islands, according to official data.
