Emergency workers in Venezuela rescued a 2-year-old boy on Tuesday who had been trapped beneath rubble for six days, marking one of the few survivor rescues on the sixth day of operations following last week's devastating earthquakes. The child, identified as Klieber Moran, was pulled from a collapsed building in La Guaira, a region that experienced the worst destruction.
Venezuelan officials expressed hope for finding more survivors. "We must hold onto the hope of continuing to find people alive beneath the rubble," said National Assembly President Jorge Rodríguez. Moran was taken to a hospital for treatment following his rescue.
Rescue efforts have continued since magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 earthquakes struck Venezuela's northern coast last Wednesday. The death toll from the earthquakes had risen to at least 1,943 by Tuesday, with more than 10,500 people reported injured. On the previous day, the death toll stood at 1,719.
Earlier in the week, American search-and-rescue teams pulled a 9-month-old infant alive from beneath the rubble. The infant and her mother, who both sustained only minor injuries, were rescued by the U.S. State Department-supported teams.
Three U.S. Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) teams, comprising 312 personnel and 18 canine teams, were dispatched to Venezuela on Friday. These teams include firefighters, physicians, structural engineers, and canine search specialists, equipped with over 200,000 pounds of specialized rescue gear.
On Tuesday, a shipment of 47 metric tons of humanitarian supplies from the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) arrived in Venezuela. The supplies include emergency health kits for urgent medical care, with provisions for safe births, newborn care, and disease prevention and treatment.