Two boys rescued from Venezuela earthquake rubble after days of being trapped

Two 11-year-old boys have separately been rescued from the rubble of collapsed buildings within hours of each other, after powerful earthquakes struck Venezuela.

Video footage of the first boy, named as Moises, showed him being pulled from the twisted debris – his eyes covered to protect them from the sun – to the applause of rescuers.

Hours later, interim President Delcy Rodríquez announced another 11-year-old boy had been rescued, and posted a video of him on X, being carried down a huge mound of wreckage on a stretcher.

Since the magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 quakes on Wednesday, officials have confirmed at least 1,430 deaths. Tens of thousands of people are still missing.

It has now been more than 85 hours since the first quake, but rescuers are not giving up hope, saying people could still be alive, especially if they have access to food and water under the rubble.

The two earthquakes, which struck within 39 seconds, caused hundreds of buildings to collapse and many people remain trapped inside. Desperate families have been digging through the debris by hand, trying to find their loved ones.

Some have told the BBC that they can hear people under the rubble, but cannot move the heavy slabs of concrete, and are waiting anxiously for heavy machinery to arrive.

Columbia’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, Delcy Rodríguez posted a video on X, purportedly showing the rescue of the second 11-year-old boy in the town of Caraballeda.

“In these hours, every life is hope for Venezuela,” she wrote.

Officials said the coastal region of La Guaira, where Caraballeda is located, has been hit the hardest.

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.

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 another part of the golf course, next to a small lagoon, a strip of land has been set up as a landing pad for helicopters arriving with supplies and emergency personnel from within Venezuela and abroad.

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.

Milagros González, who lives in Caribe, told BBC Mundo that her building was one of the few that didn’t collapse, and she fled as soon as she could to take refuge at the golf course.

“I left with my two young daughters and my two elderly relatives. But thank God we got out alive. The building can’t be lived in. But we’re alive, which is what matters,” she said.

González admitted that every time she lies down, she wakes up dizzy and thinks it’s shaking.

“A psychologist just told me that it’s part of the process,” she said, while her two young daughters play with dolls on a mattress on the grass.

In a separate video message on Sunday, Rodríquez said the José María Vargas sports complex in La Guaira was also serving as an emergency response centre.

Pointing out that the armed forces were sorting clothes, medicine and food, Rodríguez said “everything is functioning as well as possible during these terrible moments, these terrible hours, that our people are enduring”.

“Let them know that no one here is alone, not a single family or individual need [to] feel alone. Our people and our state are here, the social protection system is here, and international solidarity is here.”

But frustration has 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.

In recent days, international rescue teams from Mexico, Spain, Qatar, the US, and the UK have arrived to reinforce the search efforts.

The UN’s Tom Fletcher said on Saturday that 39 search and rescue teams had been deployed from all over the world, with each consisting of 50-100 people.

“You’re looking at almost 2,000 people surging in, 111 dogs, medical teams as well. We go in with these micro drones, they call them cockroach drones, that help us find people in the buildings.”