Two boys rescued from Venezuela earthquake rubble after days of being trapped

Another miraculous rescue story emerged from Venezuela on Sunday, days after two powerful earthquakes hit the country.

Interim President Delcy Rodriguez said 33 people were pulled alive from the rubble over the weekend. Among them were two 11-year-old boys who were rescued separately, several hours apart, from collapsed buildings on Sunday.

But with tens of thousands of people still missing, hope of finding more survivors is diminishing with each passing hour.

Aid agencies say the first 48 to 72 hours after the disaster are crucial to finding people alive. Relatives of the missing are preparing to spend the fifth night waiting for news from their loved ones.

Authorities have confirmed at least 1,450 deaths since Wednesday’s 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes.

Two earthquakes that occurred within 39 seconds caused hundreds of buildings to collapse and many people were trapped inside. Desperate families are trying to find their loved ones by digging through the rubble with their hands.

there are some He told the BBC they could hear people under the rubbleBut they cannot move the heavy concrete slabs and are anxiously waiting for the heavy machinery to arrive.

Even though the critical 72-hour window had passed, rescuers had not given up on Sunday, saying people could still be found alive, especially if they had access to food and water.

Rodríguez has been sharing optimistic messages on social media, including footage of the rescue from the weekend.

Rescue teams shared video footage of an 11-year-old boy named Moises being rescued from the rubble with his eyes closed to protect himself from the sun.

Colombia’s National Unit for Disaster Risk Management (UNGRD) said Moises was buried under about 3 meters (9.8 ft) of debris and the rescue team spent six hours on Saturday carrying out “high precision work” to reach him.

Reuters reported that a rescuer heard over the radio that the young boy was with his sister and mother, who were both dead.

Hours later, Rodríguez posted a video on X showing the rescue of a second 11-year-old boy in the town of Caraballeda.

“In these hours, every life is hope for Venezuela,” he wrote.

According to the AFP news agency, French and American teams rescued a father and his teenage son from under the rubble in Caraballeda on Sunday.

The coastal region of La Guaira, where Caraballeda is located, was hardest hit, officials said.

Rescuers’ efforts were hampered by aftershocks, frightening local residents.

Bus driver Jesús Andueza, 64, told BBC Mundo: “To be honest, it makes you feel a little nervous. Even the slightest noise… it’s scary.”

Thousands of people live in their cars or camp in places like airports and golf courses, away from buildings that could collapse.

The golf course in Caraballeda became the epicenter of the emergency response.

What was once a perfectly manicured green lawn has now become a makeshift hospital and donation centre, where residents who have lost everything rummage through piles of donated clothing and boxes of humanitarian aid.

In another part of the golf course, next to a small lagoon, a strip of land has been created as a landing area for helicopters arriving from inside and outside Venezuela with supplies and emergency personnel.

In the area surrounding the golf course, the cracked and rubble-strewn streets of Caraballeda are marked by dust and silence, interrupted only by heavy machinery and those searching among the ruins.

Milagros González, who lives in Caribe, told BBC Mundo that her building was one of the few that did not collapse, and that she escaped whenever she could and took shelter on the golf course.

“I left there with my two little daughters and two elderly relatives. But thank God, we escaped safely. The building is uninhabitable. But we are alive, that’s what matters,” he said.

González admitted that he felt dizzy and shaking every time he lay down.

“A psychologist told me it’s part of the process,” she said, as her two young daughters played with dolls on a mattress on the grass.

In a separate video message Sunday, Rodríquez said the José María Vargas sports complex in La Guaira also serves as an emergency response center.

Stating that the armed forces have sorted clothing, medicine and foodstuffs, Rodríguez said, “Everything is working as well as possible in these terrible moments, in these terrible hours that our people have endured.”

“Let them know that no one is alone here, not just one family or individual need. [to] I feel lonely. “Our people and our state are here, the social protection system is here, international solidarity is here.”

But frustration grew and some said the government’s response was too slow and inefficient. Some of the worst areas, such as Caribe and Tanaguarena, have areas where debris removal has not yet begun.

In recent days, international rescue teams from Mexico, Spain, Qatar, the USA and the UK have arrived in the area to support the search.

The UN’s Tom Fletcher said on Saturday that 39 search and rescue teams of 50-100 people each had been deployed from around the world.

“You see almost 2,000 people, 111 dogs and paramedics flocking in. We go in with these micro drones, they call them cockroach drones, that help us find people in buildings.”