Syria sends its 1st international rescue team to Venezuela after earthquakes

Syria has sent a search-and-rescue team to Venezuela after this week’s deadly earthquakes, the first known international disaster response mission of its kind by the country, according to Syrian state media and the United Nations.

The 15-member rescue team left Damascus International Airport to join search-and-rescue and humanitarian response operations after two powerful earthquakes devastated parts of northern Venezuela, SANA reported.

The mission was ordered by al-Sharaa and coordinated through Syria’s Foreign Ministry and the Ministry of Emergency and Disaster Management. It is the first time Syria has deployed a national search-and-rescue team on an international mission of this scale.

The Syrian team is traveling in partnership with Qatar’s international rescue team. Syrian officials said the team includes specialists equipped with individual search-and-rescue gear, while the Qatari teams are providing heavy machinery and equipment for field operations.

The deployment comes as Syria’s new government seeks to open the country to broader international engagement after years of war, isolation and internal crisis.

The United Nations said 44 international urban search-and-rescue teams have deployed to Venezuela at the request of the Venezuelan government, bringing 2,245 specialists and 140 search dogs to help extract possible survivors from collapsed structures and provide initial medical care.

The rescuers include teams from across from North and Latin America, Europe and the Middle East, including the United States, Mexico, El Salvador, Brazil, Colombia, Spain, France, Germany, Qatar, Syria, Türkiye and the United Kingdom, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

OCHA said it has activated emergency response mechanisms and is helping coordinate the arrival and deployment of rescue teams in Venezuela.

The death toll from the earthquakes stands at 1,430, with thousands more injured. More than 50,000 people have been reported missing through a public website created after the disaster, though those reports have not been independently verified.