On July 1, Vietnamese authorities said officers from the Ministry of Public Security's international search and rescue team had been deployed to the disaster zone in Venezuela.
The team arrived at a nine storey apartment building in La Guaira state that was almost completely destroyed in the twin earthquakes that struck on June 24, local time. Authorities believe 15 people remain trapped beneath the rubble.
Rescuers are working in temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius, with widespread power outages and severely disrupted communications hampering operations.
According to local authorities, many damaged high rise buildings in La Guaira remain at high risk of secondary collapse, forcing rescue teams to proceed with extreme caution while searching for survivors.
The operation has also been complicated by a shortage of heavy demolition equipment, leaving many rescue teams to rely largely on manual labour to clear debris and reach those trapped beneath the wreckage.
Vietnamese officers are working alongside international rescue teams in the ongoing search for survivors following one of the deadliest natural disasters to hit Venezuela in more than a century.
