Venezuela quake rescuers search rubble two months on

Volunteer rescuers are still searching rubble in Venezuela's coastal state of La Guaira two months after twin earthquakes killed 6,509 people.

Venezuela's interim government reported Monday that 6,509 people died in the magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 tremors that struck on June 24. The previous death toll had stood at 6,438.

The quakes devastated La Guaira, where at least 190 buildings fell apart. Recovery work for bodies under the rubble is continuing, and thousands of people made homeless by the disaster are living in makeshift camps.

Domingo Pacheco, a 53-year-old volunteer with the Unified Rescue Group of Venezuela, reached La Guaira soon after the quakes and has been working through the debris since then. He said the work had left him exhausted and that he briefly blacked out one evening after digging.

Pacheco said he first searched for a little girl buried under a collapsed social housing complex and heard trapped people calling for help in the first hours after the disaster.

The Unified Rescue Group of Venezuela has rescued 21 people alive and recovered 56 bodies. There are no official figures for how many people remain missing.

Frank Viloria, whose sister and niece died when their eight-story building collapsed in Playa Grande, said he was grateful to Pacheco and his colleagues.

Authorities say they have provided 335 homes to quake victims after pledging to provide 4,000 by the end of the year.