Rescue a cat from the rubble of the Venezuelan earthquake, where the death toll exceeded 5,200 people

A weakened cat was pulled from the rubble of a collapsed apartment complex in Venezuela on Saturday in what a rescuer described as a “ray of hope” in the wake of deadly earthquakes.

More than 5,200 people died when successive earthquakes struck the South American country on June 24, with the coastal state of La Guaira being the worst hit.

Volunteer rescue worker Andres Carvajal said he spotted the cat during a search in a residential complex in La Guaira, which was reduced to rubble.

“We saw the cat, it got scared and went back inside the building,” Carvajal told AFP. It was not clear when she was trapped.

The 21-year-old university student said, “I went in, took off my gloves, and put some cat food on my arm… He gradually approached and of course ate the food with some desperation.”

A volunteer rescuer carries a cat after it was recovered from the rubble of a building damaged by the June 24 earthquakes, in Caraballeda, La Guaira state; Venezuela, on July 18, 2026. Juan Barreto/AFP via Getty Images

Carvajal had written “el Gato” – “the cat” – on his helmet, which he said was his nickname since primary school.

He and other students from the Central University of Venezuela in Caracas formed an association to assist in the rescue operations.

Once the cat was rescued, it was delivered to a small camp where veterinarians were on standby. He was given fluids and cleaned before being sent to the shelter.

“I’m very happy we found him,” Carvajal said. “It’s impossible not to feel sympathy for any life that exists here. Finding this little kitten is obviously a ray of light, a ray of hope.”

At the end of June, a rescue team recovered a small dog from under the rubble in the same area. The footage showed a search and rescue team from El Salvador pulling the dog from a dilapidated building in Caraballeda. In the footage, a barking sound can be heard coming from a dark crevice. The video then shows the dog excitedly licking her rescuer’s face after being removed from the collapsed structure, amid applause from the audience.

Outside what was once a McDonald’s restaurant in La Guaira, volunteer veterinarians have set up a makeshift animal clinic for dogs, cats and other pets injured or left without owners due to successive earthquakes. Using few tools but with an admirable drive to save animals, they describe their work as “war medicine.”

The death toll from the Venezuela earthquake exceeds 5,200 people

The death toll from the earthquakes rose to 5,208, according to an official tally updated on Sunday. The number of infected people remains at 16,740, according to the head of the Venezuelan Legislative Council, Jorge Rodriguez.

In La Guaira, bodies continue to be recovered from the rubble of dozens of collapsed buildings. The Venezuelan authorities did not provide an estimate of the number of people still missing.

In La Guaira, nearly 20,000 homeless people are crammed into makeshift camps set up in stadiums, public squares and on sidewalks.

More than 850 buildings were damaged and 190 buildings completely collapsed, according to official figures.

Stephen Smith and Camilo Montoya Galvez contributed to this report.

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