In the Venezuelan resort town of La Guaira, a group of rescuers watched as sensors that once detected life under the rubble now showed nothing, as silence gave way to resignation.

Yesterday -- the ninth day since the devastating double earthquakes that killed at least 2,595 people and injured tens of thousands in the South American nation -- was the last day in the search for survivors, some rescuers said.

After 30 hours of gruelling work with no rescue, their operation was called off. Nothing more could be done. Chances of finding life in the rubble are highest in the first 72 hours, and diminish as each hour passes, with conditions such as temperature also playing a critical role.

The human body can survive up to seven days without water, one rescuer said. Just hours earlier, another brigade saved a 43-year-old man in the coastal area of Catia La Mar who survived eight days under the rubble -- celebrated as a miracle after he was dug out from under a collapsed seven-story building.

Meanwhile, interim President Delcy Rodriguez on Thursday rejected allegations that her government reacted too slowly to destruction caused by two earthquakes.

“It was a natural tragedy on a scale we never imagined, even though we knew that a seismic event could occur in our country,” Rodriguez said in her first press conference since taking power in January, after the US ousted her predecessor Nicolas Maduro. “We did not wait one, two or three days. We acted immediately.”

Four thousand officials were deployed immediately, she said, rising to 14,000 the day after and then again to a current figure of 19,000.