Mexico City, June 30, (dpa/GNA) – Almost a week after devastating earthquakes struck Venezuela, survivors are still being found alive by rescuers that have come from abroad to help.
Salvadoran rescue workers reached a 44-year-old man, trapped under the rubble of a shopping centre in the coastal city of Maiquetía in the early hours of Tuesday, El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele wrote on the platform X. The man had been supplied with water through a tube while rescuers found a way to reach him safely.
Workers from the fire brigade in the Ecuadorian capital Quito, which was also deployed in the disaster area, reported on Monday that they had rescued a 12-year-old boy. “Five days after the earthquake, signs of life are the greatest motivation to keep going,” read a post on the platform X. “As long as there is still a chance, we will keep searching.”
A dog was also among those rescued, according to Bukele. The animal, named Giselle, was pulled from the rubble in the city of Caraballeda, after a five-hour operation. A video showed the dog lying in the arms of its rescuer, and excitedly licking his face.
The rescue reports could not initially be independently verified. The Venezuelan government said the death toll from the two earthquakes of magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 that struck last Wednesday currently stands at 1,719.
According to a modelling estimate by the US Geological Survey, the death toll could run into the tens of thousands.
GNA