A three-year-old boy was rescued from the rubble in Caracas on Tuesday, a Jordanian rescue team said, six days after twin earthquakes hit Venezuela, killing almost 2,000 people.
Video footage showed rescue workers cheering upon discovering the child, who had miraculously survived.
The boy received first aid and was immediately taken to hospital, the Jordanian civil defense said in a statement.
In other footage, rescue workers wiped the boy’s face with tissues and tucked him in with a blanket in an ambulance.
Experts say the 72-hour window after an earthquake serves as the crucial window during which people trapped under debris have a chance of being rescued alive.
The infant’s vital signs were good, the Jordanian statement said, adding that local authorities had been informed of the rescue.
Last week’s 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude shocks — one of the worst earthquake disasters in Latin America — collapsed whole residential complexes, left tens of thousands unaccounted for and prompted frantic search-and-rescue operations for survivors trapped in the rubble.
Entire buildings were pulverized in La Guaira, an area north of the capital Caracas, which also endured severe damage.
Venezuelan parliamentary president Jorge Rodriguez said Tuesday that 6,461 people had been rescued since the quake struck. (Arab News)