US airplane loaded to help quake rescue efforts in Venezuela

Following a devastating pair of back-to-back earthquakes (magnitudes 7.2 and 7.5) that struck northern Venezuela on June 24, the United States military launched a massive, rapid humanitarian response. Multiple C-17 Globemasters were loaded overnight to rush elite rescue capabilities to the disaster zone.

The planes are transporting highly specialized U.S. Urban Search and Rescue teams from Los Angeles and Fairfax, Virginia. This includes roughly 160 personnel such as structural engineers, trauma physicians, and underground extraction experts along with 12 canine units trained to find survivors under collapsed buildings during the critical 72-hour window.