Venezuela earthquake rescuers rescue a three-year-old boy after six days in rubble

A three-year-old boy was rescued from the rubble caused by the two devastating earthquakes that struck Venezuela, six days after search and rescue efforts began.

Acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodriguez said in a message via the Telegram application that Cleber Moran was recovered from the Los Corales Garden 1 building in the northern state of La Guaira by Jordanian rescuers.

Three-year-old Clipper Moran was found alive and rescued from collapsed rubble, six days after the earthquakes. (Reuters: Supplied/Jordanian Public Security)

Video footage from the scene showed rescuers cheering when they discovered the child. The Jordanian Civil Defense said in a statement that after he was taken out, he received first aid and was immediately transferred to the hospital.

In other footage, rescuers wiped the boy’s face with tissues and placed him with a blanket in the ambulance.

The Jordanian rescue team used camera technology to locate the boy under the rubble of collapsed buildings. (Reuters: Supplied/Jordanian Public Security)

Experts say the 72-hour period after an earthquake is a critical window during which people trapped under the rubble can be rescued alive.

The Jordanian statement said that the infant’s vital signs were good, adding that local authorities had been informed of the rescue operation.

Initial estimates indicate that approximately 60,000 buildings across Venezuela have been destroyed or partially damaged. (AP: Mathias Delacroix)

Venezuela was hit by two magnitude 7.2 and -7.5 earthquakes less than a minute apart on June 24, toppling buildings and trapping thousands of people under rubble.

National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez said that 6,461 people had been rescued since the earthquake.

Rescue teams from around the world have arrived in Venezuela to assist in search and recovery efforts. (AP: Ariana Cubius)

“We must cling to hope that we will continue to find people alive under the rubble,” Rodriguez said in a televised speech.

A UNICEF shipment carrying 47 metric tons of humanitarian supplies arrived in Venezuela on Tuesday local time, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

The shipment included emergency health kits for urgent medical care, supplies for safe delivery, newborn care, disease prevention and treatment.

Rescuers were able to save nearly 7,000 people in the six days following the two earthquakes. (AP: Mathias Delacroix)

The disaster turns into a dire health and humanitarian issue

Tens of thousands of Venezuelans continued to desperately search for food and shelter on Tuesday, local time, after earthquakes killed nearly 2,000 people.

The two earthquakes marked one of the worst earthquake disasters in Latin American history and led to frantic search and rescue operations for survivors trapped under the rubble.

Thousands of Venezuelans joined queues in search of emergency shelter, food and humanitarian aid. (AP: Mathias Delacroix)

Six days after the shocks, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said that “food shortages are widespread, basic services have been cut off and communication has been largely cut off” in La Guaira.

“They distribute supplies here, but sometimes people almost kill each other for food… It’s like a cockfight,” said Daniela Armas, an 18-year-old vendor in La Guaira who was injured while falling from a motorcycle during the earthquakes.

Rodriguez said the death toll rose to 1,943, while more than 10,500 were injured.

Many Venezuelans have made no secret of their anger at the government’s slow response to the disaster in a country already suffering from decades of economic crisis that has weakened infrastructure and health services.

Several NGOs have set up emergency response tents in public areas in parts of Venezuela. (AP: Ariana Cubius)

The UN agency said it needs about $14.85 million ($21.46 million) to increase aid and provide temporary shelter for about 30,000 people over a period of six months.

The quakes are likely to damage or destroy 58,870 buildings, according to a preliminary assessment of satellite data published by NASA.

With thousands in need of assistance, World Health Organization spokesman Christian Lindmeier said Venezuela’s health services are exhausted and under “severe pressure.”

The names of dozens of people still missing in the aftermath of the disaster were written on lists placed on buildings and vehicles in the affected areas. (AP: Mathias Delacroix)

Without access to toilets, showers or soap, displaced Venezuelans are increasingly vulnerable to outbreaks of preventable diseases such as measles, given low vaccination rates among the population, Lindemeyer said.

He also added that conditions are ripe for the spread of waterborne diseases such as dengue, yellow fever and malaria.

According to the government, the earthquakes damaged or damaged 38 hospitals nationwide.

The World Health Organization said it has so far evaluated 21 of those facilities, three of which are no longer operational. Six others were damaged, while the rest collapsed under the weight of the injuries.

Some residents resorted to sifting through the rubble to find survivors themselves. (AP: Ariana Cubius)

The World Health Organization said many specialist doctors were still missing under the rubble, including those responsible for maternity care in La Guaira.

“The findings reveal chaos in service delivery and patient flow, characterized by overcrowding, a growing surgical backlog… and a breakdown in biosafety measures,” Lindmeier said.

An increased NGO presence was observed on Tuesday, local time, in La Guaira and neighboring communities, where tents from the Red Cross, the World Food Program and other organizations were set up on sidewalks, waterfronts and sports facilities.

People lined up all day under the hot sun to get free toiletries, food, medicine and face masks.

A man uses his own machinery to dig through rubble and crumbling concrete in La Guaira. (AP: Ariana Cubius)

Rescue efforts become a grim scramble to find the dead

While international rescue teams from the United States, Mexico and dozens of other countries rushed with trained dogs and heavy equipment to retrieve survivors, Venezuelans began burying the dead they could find.

In pictures: Searching for survivors after the earthquakes in Venezuela

After two powerful earthquakes, rescue teams from all over the world are in a race against time to extract survivors from the rubble.

The US military also confirmed that it has established a strong troop footprint in and around Venezuela to support relief operations, with more than 900 personnel inside the country and about 800 more in the Puerto Rico and Curacao hubs in the Caribbean.

Gen. Francis Donovan, commander of U.S. Southern Command and Latin America’s top general, told Reuters that U.S. forces participated in search and rescue operations, helped operate the airport, and mobilized air and naval assets to allow humanitarian relief to arrive.

He said the US military also deployed at least four or five MQ-9 Reaper drones, which, along with a fusion cell in Miami, were bolstering the intelligence profile of the Venezuelan authorities.

“We’re using some of the same assets that we would use to track threats in the Western Hemisphere [to] “Now make sure the roads are open and make sure we know where the damaged buildings are,” he said.

General Donovan said US Marines were the first American personnel on the ground to help rescuers dig through the rubble to find survivors.

The US military assisted civilians by air, including rescuers from Fairfax, Virginia, who posted a video over the weekend of the rescue of a mother and her nine-month-old baby.

He added that the broader operation requires heavy logistics, and is focused on helping ensure life-saving international aid does not back up at entry points.

“Because that’s where these events can sometimes go sideways,” he said.

“You’re bringing in a lot of materials and you don’t have the logistics behind it to move afterward [the aid] to the affected areas.”

The death toll from the two devastating earthquakes that struck Venezuela has risen to more than 1,900 people. (AP: Mathias Delacroix)

Other Venezuelans were frantically searching by hand for missing loved ones under the rubble, but also in hospitals and morgues.

Rosanna Luna, who was searching for her sister Sureda among the ruins of her home, said: “It is difficult not to know because you ask yourself: What do I do? Where do I look for her?”

Black body bags containing earthquake victims were lined up near a makeshift morgue at the dock in La Guaira on Monday local time, Agence France-Presse reported.

Darvin Silva, 37, described how he struggled to reach his mother, who died under a column in a collapsed building.

“I made an effort to get it out of there with my bare hands, with sledgehammers and shovels… you can’t even imagine,” he said.

“I hope I can now give you the rest you deserve.”

About 50,000 people are still missing, according to the United Nations.

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