A father and his son were rescued alive from the ruins of a collapsed building in Venezuela on Sunday, four days after powerful earthquakes devastated the country, offering a rare moment of hope amid an increasingly grim search for survivors.
The pair, both visibly weak after spending nearly 96 hours trapped beneath the debris, were carefully carried on makeshift stretchers through the wreckage-filled streets of La Guaira, one of the regions worst affected by Wednesday's disaster. They were later transferred to waiting ambulances for urgent medical treatment.
Their rescue followed a painstaking 12-hour operation involving French and American search-and-rescue teams, who used specialized cameras and detection equipment to locate signs of life beneath unstable rubble. Rescuers worked cautiously to clear debris and establish access to the trapped victims while preparing medical support, including intravenous fluids, before extraction.
Emergency responders said the father and son were severely dehydrated and exhausted but alive, a remarkable outcome given the length of time they had spent buried under the collapsed structure.
The operation comes a day after the same international rescue teams saved a woman and her nine-month-old baby from another collapsed building, fueling hopes that more survivors could still be found despite rapidly diminishing odds.
La Guaira, a coastal state, bore the brunt of the earthquakes that struck Venezuela on Wednesday, killing at least 1,450 people and leaving thousands unaccounted for.
Authorities said at least 33 people have been pulled alive from the rubble over the weekend. However, with tens of thousands still missing and more than 72 hours having passed since the disaster, experts warn that the chances of finding survivors continue to decline sharply as rescue crews race against time.
