Venezuela hit hard by earthquake – Germany stands ready to provide rapid assistance

The two strongest earthquakes of the year have struck Venezuela. Hour by hour, the massive extent of destruction is becoming clearer. Our thoughts are with the affected Venezuelans; they need international assistance now.

For Germany it is clear: we want to provide fast and targeted assistance.

Against this backdrop, the Federal Government’s crisis task force met at the Federal Foreign Office today for a coordinating meeting. The individual ministries are also holding coordinating talks with civilian aid and disaster relief organisations.

This afternoon, Venezuela submitted an international request for assistance through the EU civil protection mechanism. Based on the concrete requirements specified in the request, we will now – coordinated at European level – examine the ways in which we can provide assistance. Supplies such as water filters, camp beds, tents or generators are available to this end.

Since last night, the Federal Foreign Office has been in contact with German disaster relief intervention teams and with our international partners. Before the end of the day, advance teams from the Federal Agency for Technical Relief (THW) and the @fire and I.S.A.R Germany aid organisations will leave for the region together with colleagues from Switzerland to get a clearer picture of the situation. Further, we will coordinate on the ground with the many rescue teams from the region that are already on their way to Venezuela.

Six German Air Force aircraft on standby for assistance

One of these six tactical aircraft can also be used as a so-called MedEvac role to ensure medical evacuation. The other five aircraft will be on standby in standard configuration for transporting personnel and material.

Preparations at 62 Air Transport Wing in Wunstorf are running at full speed. The aircraft are operational and currently on standby. The Wing is also preparing to serve as a logistics hub for civilian assistance and disaster relief organisations such as the German Red Cross and THW, and to receive and subsequently ship relief supplies for onward transport.

At the beginning of a possible relief operation, the Air Transport Wing’s contingent would comprise the contingent commander, the aircrew and a small team of technicians. The A400M can transport up to 16 tonnes in material and personnel. According to current planning, net flight duration to cover the distance of 8200km to deploy to the crisis region will be approx. 13 hours. Refuelling stops, crew rotation and reinforcements will help us reach the crisis region without delay to provide the urgently needed assistance as quickly as possible.