Rescuers pull 9-month-old infant, mother, 9-year-old and 11-year-old boy from debris

Miraculous saves continue past 72-hour 'golden window'

Death toll climbs to at least 1,450; some 50,000 feared missing

Members of the Virginia Task Force urban search-and-rescue team extract a 9-month-old infant from the rubble of a collapsed building in earthquake-stricken Venezuela on June 27 (local time). [Captured from Virginia Task Force's X account]
Members of the Virginia Task Force urban search-and-rescue team extract a 9-month-old infant from the rubble of a collapsed building in earthquake-stricken Venezuela on June 27 (local time). [Captured from Virginia Task Force's X account]

This is why we exist. Delivering hope.

미국 버지니아 도시수색구조대

Even as the critical 72-hour "golden window" for survival has passed following a magnitude-7.5 earthquake sequence in Venezuela, rescuers continue to pull survivors from the wreckage in what many are calling miraculous saves.

According to the New York Post, Virginia Task Force rescuers found and freed a baby and its mother from a collapsed building in the earthquake-affected area on June 27 (local time). The team said both the infant and the mother — carried out on a stretcher — sustained only minor injuries in the disaster.

The Department of State also released rescue footage on X (formerly Twitter) that day, saying "every life saved is a victory" and that "hope continues even in seemingly impossible situations."

Members of the Virginia Task Force urban search-and-rescue team pull the mother of a 9-month-old infant from the rubble of a collapsed building in earthquake-stricken Venezuela on June 27 (local time). [Captured from Virginia Task Force's X account]
Members of the Virginia Task Force urban search-and-rescue team pull the mother of a 9-month-old infant from the rubble of a collapsed building in earthquake-stricken Venezuela on June 27 (local time). [Captured from Virginia Task Force's X account]

Footage showed rescuers carefully extracting the crying 9-month-old from beneath the debris and carrying the infant to safety, along with the baby's mother.

Countries around the world, including the United States, have been dispatching rescue teams to Venezuela to search for survivors. Virginia Task Force is one of several American relief contingents deployed to support earthquake recovery efforts.

A senior US administration official said the government had sent roughly 250 professional civilian rescue workers — including the Virginia team — along with aircraft carrying relief supplies, a mobile hospital and the amphibious ship USS Fort Lauderdale.

Venezuelan authorities said volunteers from Mexico, El Salvador, Switzerland and other countries are also working at the scene.

Venezuelan interim President Delcy Rodriguez shares video on X (formerly Twitter) on June 27 (local time) showing an 11-year-old boy being rescued from beneath a collapsed building. [Captured from Rodriguez's X account]
Venezuelan interim President Delcy Rodriguez shares video on X (formerly Twitter) on June 27 (local time) showing an 11-year-old boy being rescued from beneath a collapsed building. [Captured from Rodriguez's X account]

Interim President Delcy Rodriguez announced June 27 that rescue operations had pulled an additional 33 survivors to safety. She shared video of an 11-year-old boy being freed from beneath a collapsed structure, saying "every life is Venezuela's hope." A Colombian rescue team conducted six hours of precision work to extract the boy from under heavy debris some 3 meters deep.

CNN reported that an El Salvadoran rescue team safely pulled a 15-year-old girl and her pet dog from the rubble in La Guaira. A Spanish emergency rescue team also said it successfully freed a woman who had been trapped under debris for roughly 72 hours.

A 9-year-old boy is carried out on a stretcher after being rescued in La Guaira state, the epicenter of earthquake damage, on June 28 (local time) — four days after a magnitude-7.5 earthquake sequence struck Venezuela. The death toll has risen to at least 1,450 even as the 72-hour survival window has passed, and missing-person reports filed on civilian websites are approaching 70,000, raising fears the final toll will be far higher. [AFP]
A 9-year-old boy is carried out on a stretcher after being rescued in La Guaira state, the epicenter of earthquake damage, on June 28 (local time) — four days after a magnitude-7.5 earthquake sequence struck Venezuela. The death toll has risen to at least 1,450 even as the 72-hour survival window has passed, and missing-person reports filed on civilian websites are approaching 70,000, raising fears the final toll will be far higher. [AFP]

Despite the dramatic rescues, the death toll continues to climb. Jorge Rodriguez, president of Venezuela's National Assembly, said June 28 that at least 1,450 people had been killed in the earthquake sequence that struck June 24, according to wire reports from AP, AFP and Reuters.

The confirmed death toll rose by 20 from the previous day. Rodriguez said 3,150 people had been injured, 12,721 displaced and 774 buildings destroyed.

However, the full scale of casualties could grow significantly. The UN estimates that around 50,000 people remain missing as a result of the earthquake.


yckim6452@heraldcorp.com