EL JUNQUITO, VENEZUELA ¨C Frustration rose across Venezuela over a lack of government help in areas struck by deadly twin earthquakes five days ago, with miracle rescues increasingly rare and the death toll hitting more than 1,700 on Monday.
Among the casualties are believed to be as many as 140 people deported from the United States, including children, who were staying at ?a hotel that was toppled by Wednesday¡¯s back-to-back 7.2- and 7.5-magnitude quakes. On the fifth day of rescue efforts, the government tally showed nearly 200 buildings completely flattened and ?several hundred severely ?damaged.
The rising toll of casualties ¡ª including 5,000 injured ¡ª was likely exacerbated by decades of neglect, poor building code enforcement and shoddy ?licensing practices under past leaders Hugo Chavez and Nicolas Maduro, experts said.
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