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A father and his son have been rescued alive from the rubble of a collapsed building in Venezuela, four days after powerful earthquakes ripped through the country, offering a rare moment of hope as rescuers continue searching for survivors beneath mountains of debris.
The pair were pulled from the wreckage on Sunday in the coastal state of La Guaira after emergency workers spent nearly 12 hours carefully cutting through concrete slabs and twisted steel. Rescue teams from France and the United States led the delicate operation, using specialist equipment to locate and extract the survivors without causing further collapse. Both were severely dehydrated and were immediately taken to hospital for treatment.
Their rescue came barely 24 hours after another remarkable breakthrough, when a woman and her nine-month-old baby were found alive under the remains of a residential building. While the latest rescues have lifted the spirits of emergency workers and anxious families, experts warn that the chances of finding more survivors diminish significantly after the first three days following a major earthquake.
Authorities say at least 1,450 people have now lost their lives, more than 3,000 others have been injured and about 13,000 residents displaced by the disaster. Hundreds of buildings have either collapsed or suffered extensive structural damage, while thousands of people remain missing as search operations continue across the affected communities.
The twin earthquakes, measuring magnitudes 7.2 and 7.5, struck northern Venezuela within seconds of each other on Wednesday, leaving a trail of destruction across La Guaira, Caracas and neighbouring areas. Roads, hospitals, schools and residential neighbourhoods sustained heavy damage, further complicating relief efforts.
More than 2,600 rescue personnel from several countries have joined Venezuelan emergency agencies in combing through destroyed buildings in search of those still trapped. Interim President Delcy Rodríguez said restoring essential services remains a priority, with electricity gradually returning to affected communities, although schools will remain closed while engineers assess damaged structures.
Humanitarian organisations have warned that the scale of the disaster continues to unfold, with thousands of families requiring emergency shelter, food, clean water and medical care. The U.S. Geological Survey has projected that the final death toll could climb well beyond current figures, underscoring the devastating impact of one of the strongest earthquakes to strike the region in decades.
Even as hope fades with each passing hour, the rescue of the father and son has become a powerful reminder that survival remains possible, reinforcing the determination of emergency crews who continue to work around the clock in a race against time.
