Spain's Foreign Minister reports three Spanish citizens dead and 99 unaccounted for after the Venezuela earthquake. Four Spaniards remain trapped under debris. A military plane will repatriate stranded tourists.
Spanish authorities have raised the number of nationals confirmed dead in the aftermath of the double earthquake in Venezuela to three, while 99 remain unaccounted for. The update comes as rescue teams continue efforts to reach four Spanish citizens found trapped beneath collapsed buildings, according to Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares, who spoke from Mexico.
Efforts are underway to enable emergency crews to access those still under the rubble. The Spanish government has dispatched a military aircraft to Venezuela, carrying members of the Unidad Militar de Emergencias, the Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional para el Desarrollo, and firefighters from the Comunidad de Madrid. This plane will also be used to bring back a group of Spanish tourists currently in the country.
While the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has not released the names of all the deceased, family sources confirmed to Europa Press that one of the victims is Alazne Solabarrieta Lecea, a 65-year-old Spanish-Venezuelan born in Caracas. She was the granddaughter of José María Solabarrieta, who served as mayor of Ondarroa (Bizkaia) during the Second Republic before being exiled to Venezuela. Her husband, Koldo Olalde, survived the disaster and is currently hospitalized. He is identified as Luis María Olalde Quintela, also known as Txistu, who fled Spain in 1979 after being part of the ETA's Urola commando. Spanish authorities have previously requested information about him from Venezuelan officials.
The situation remains fluid, with the number of missing and affected Spaniards potentially subject to change as rescue operations continue. The Spanish government is coordinating closely with local and international agencies to support those impacted and to facilitate the safe return of its citizens. Earthquakes in Venezuela are rare but can cause significant destruction due to building vulnerabilities and limited emergency infrastructure. The involvement of Spanish emergency units highlights the scale of the response and the priority given to the safety of Spanish nationals abroad.
