A father and his son were rescued alive on Sunday after spending four days trapped beneath the rubble of a collapsed building in Venezuela, giving rescue crews fresh hope as the search for survivors continues.
Emergency workers carried the pair on makeshift fabric stretchers through debris-covered streets in La Guaira before placing them into a waiting ambulance. Both appeared exhausted and wore protective masks as crowds gathered to watch the dramatic rescue.
The operation lasted about 12 hours. Teams carefully searched unstable debris with specialized cameras before reaching the trapped victims. Medical workers prepared intravenous drips before the pair were removed so treatment could begin immediately during the slow extraction.
“They are extremely weak, as any patient trapped under rubble for four days would be, so we are doing everything possible to rehydrate them and administer various medications during the extraction process, which is moving very slowly,” said a member of the French Civil Security.
French Civil Security personnel worked alongside members of the Fairfax County Urban Search and Rescue Team from Virginia. The same international team had rescued a mother and her 9-month-old baby the previous day.
Rescuers continued searching nearby buildings after the father and son were brought to safety. Some crews cleared debris while others stayed close to the collapsed structures, listening for signs of life and communicating with colleagues working inside the ruins.
La Guaira, a coastal state, suffered the worst damage from the powerful earthquakes that struck on Wednesday. The disaster has killed at least 1,450 people, while thousands more remain missing.
Search efforts produced more rescues over the weekend, with at least 33 people pulled from collapsed buildings alive. Even so, emergency officials warn that the window for finding additional survivors is rapidly closing.
Disaster specialists say the chances of rescuing people alive after an earthquake fall sharply once the first 72 hours have passed. Despite those odds, the latest rescue has strengthened the determination of crews still working around the clock in hopes of finding more survivors.
