Foreign News
Venezuela earthquake: Two boys pulled from rubble among 33 people rescued
Colombia’s National Unit for Disaster Risk Management (UNGRD) said Moises was buried under about 3m (9.8ft) of debris, and the rescue team spent six hours conducting “high-precision work” on Saturday to reach him.
Reuters reported that a rescuer was overheard on a walkie-talkie saying the young boy was found near his sister and mother, who had both died.
Hours later, Rodríguez posted a video on X, purportedly showing the rescue of a second 11-year-old boy in the town of Caraballeda.
“In these hours, every life is hope for Venezuela,” she wrote.
Also in Caraballeda, French and American teams rescued a father and his teenage son from under rubble on Sunday, news agency AFP reported.
Officials said the coastal region of La Guaira, where Caraballeda is located, has been hit the hardest.
A firefighter working in Caraballeda told the BBC there are dozens of buildings yet to be searched.
“There aren’t enough hands,” he said. “And it is very, very likely that there are still people trapped.”
Rescuers’ efforts have been hampered by aftershocks, which are in turn terrifying residents.
“To be honest, it makes you feel kind of nervous. Any little noise… horrible,” Jesús Andueza, a 64-year-old bus driver told BBC Mundo.
Frustration has also grown, with some saying the government’s response is too slow and inefficient. In some of the worst areas, such as Caribe and Tanaguarena, there are entire areas where debris removal has not yet started.
One person told the BBC that the government was actually hindering rescue efforts, by limiting access to affected areas and closing roads.
Thousands of people are living in their cars or camping at places like the airport and golf course, away from buildings that could collapse.
The golf course in Caraballeda has become an epicentre for the emergency response.
Its green lawn, which used to be perfectly manicured, is now a makeshift hospital and donation centre, where residents who have lost everything are sifting through piles of donated clothing and boxes of humanitarian aid.
In the area surrounding the golf course, Caraballeda’s streets – cracked and covered in rubble – are marked by dust and silence, interrupted only by heavy machinery and those searching among the remains.
