Thailand is to deploy a 46-member Urban Search and Rescue (USAR Thailand) team and three K9 dogs to Venezuela after two powerful earthquakes devastated areas around the capital, Caracas, leaving thousands feared dead and prompting a major international relief effort. Get today's headlines by email Deputy Interior Minister Jeseth Thaiseth chaired a meeting at the National Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Command Centre on June 25, where he instructed officials to monitor the situation in Venezuela around the clock and prepare the deployment. The team will be sent to support rescue operations if requested as part of the international response. The earthquakes struck, with a magnitude 7.2 quake occurring about 160km west of Caracas, followed less than a minute later by a magnitude 7.5 tremor, according to the US Geological Survey. The powerful quakes caused widespread destruction, flattening buildings, trapping people beneath rubble and triggering strong aftershocks. USAR Thailand brings together personnel from the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation, Department of Medical Services, Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, Engineering Institute of Thailand under Royal Patronage, Foundation for Environmental and Social Development, and NPC Safety & Environmental Services Co., Ltd. The team has been evaluated under the United Nations INSARAG External Classification (IEC) system and is ready to undertake overseas rescue missions immediately upon request. The US Geological Survey’s predictive modelling indicated the final death toll was likely to reach the thousands, with a substantial probability of exceeding 10,000. A missing persons website shared on X by opposition leaders listed more than 10,000 people as unaccounted for. The ThaiNewsRoom reported that countries including the United States, China, India, the European Union, Spain, Italy and most Latin American nations have offered assistance. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the United States was immediately deploying search and rescue teams, medical resources and humanitarian aid, while President Donald Trump described the disaster as “devastating” and pledged US support. The UN’s Venezuela human rights mission urged the government to lift restrictions on social media, describing access to information as “a matter of life and death” as emergency responders continued searching for survivors. Rescue operations are continuing, with international teams expected to arrive in the coming days as authorities assess the full scale of the disaster. Picture courtesy of TNR Join the discussion? Already a member? Adapted by ASEAN Now Thainewsroom 27 June 2026
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