UNITED NATIONS, June 26 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations is ramping up humanitarian assistance and coordinating international relief efforts following the devastating earthquakes that struck Venezuela, with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres pledging the world body's full support for rescue and recovery operations.

Guterres spoke by phone with Venezuela's acting president Delcy Rodriguez on Thursday night and "expressed his solidarity with the people and Government of Venezuela following the devastating earthquakes," Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for the secretary-general, told a news briefing Friday.

The secretary-general pledged "the full cooperation of the UN system" in support of the relief efforts led by the Venezuelan government, Dujarric added.

Meanwhile, the United Nations and its humanitarian partners are rapidly scaling up the response, conducting assessments and mobilizing assistance, said Dujarric.

UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher has allocated 15 million U.S. dollars from the Central Emergency Response Fund to support urgent life-saving assistance in Venezuela, the spokesperson said.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is supporting coordination efforts on the ground, facilitating information sharing, and working with partners to help ensure the effective deployment of international search-and-rescue teams.

According to Dujarric, a total of 30 of these teams are being deployed to Venezuela, with more than 1,600 personnel and 100 dogs coming from a wide variety of countries.

The UN Disaster and Assessment teams have also been mobilized, along with a four-member operational support team. Several OCHA staff are also being deployed to Venezuela.

"Our colleagues at the World Food Programme (WFP) tell us that the first 72 hours are obviously crucial for search and rescue, but they are also critical for positioning food and other relief supplies that people will need in the coming days," said the spokesperson.

The WFP said that it has enough to feed more than 10,000 families for two months in Venezuela. Teams are also looking for the fastest way to mobilize further food assistance and are establishing response priorities across the affected areas. There are also over 1,400 metric tonnes of relief items from partners that are ready to be deployed at the WFP-managed UN Humanitarian Response Depot, which is in Panama, he said.

For its part, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) said that an estimated 3.9 million children live in the areas affected by the earthquakes, putting thousands of children and their families at even further risk. UNICEF is on the ground and coordinating closely with national authorities, the broader system, local and international partners to assess needs and support a rapid, effective response. To enable immediate action, UNICEF has allocated 1.5 million dollars from its internal resources and 1 million dollars from the Global Humanitarian Thematic Funding, according to the spokesperson.

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) is scaling core relief item distributions in coordination with the Venezuelan government and partners. Regional core relief items stocks, such as tents and housing units, mosquito nets and solar lamps in Panama will be quickly mobilized. UNHCR teams on the ground continue coordinating the protection response and scaling up emergency shelter, relief, and support services, said Dujarric.

OCHA said the earthquakes caused extensive damage.

At least 250 buildings have been damaged or destroyed, particularly in La Guaira state, some 30 km north of capital Caracas, the worst-affected area. Significant structural damage has also been reported across Caracas and surrounding states, it said.

Critical infrastructure remains severely disrupted, including electricity, water, telecommunications, and transport, with Maiquetia International Airport still closed due to damage. Hospitals continue to operate under mass casualty protocols, and shelters have been established for displaced families, said the office.

The death toll from the powerful twin earthquakes that struck Venezuela Wednesday has risen to 920, Venezuelan National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez said on Friday. Meanwhile, about 50,000 people remain missing, as a website established to receive reports of people still unaccounted for had over 50,000 submissions as of midday on Friday. ■