Father, son pulled alive from rubble four days after Venezuela quakes

A father and his son were pulled out alive from the rubble of a collapsed building in La Guaira on Sunday, four days after devastating earthquakes struck Venezuela. This was truly a moment of hope in the midst of the hurried attempts to save lives being undertaken by international teams.

Their rescue followed 12 hours of hard work conducted by teams searching through the debris using specialised cameras designed for rescue work.

According to experts, once 72 hours elapse after an earthquake, it is highly unlikely that one will find victims alive within the debris, since the mission changes from rescuing victims to collecting bodies.

A member of the French Civil Security said the pair were "extremely weak, as any patient trapped under rubble for four days would be", adding that rescuers did "everything possible to rehydrate them and administer various medications during the extraction process, which is moving very slowly".

Rescue teams available in the region comprise members of the French Civil Security and the American rescuers, who belong to the Fairfax County Urban Search and Rescue Team of Virginia. These rescuers saved a woman and her nine-month-old child the previous day.

Over 33 people were rescued last weekend, but many others are still missing; it has increased the apprehension that time is running out for saving any other person.

Twin earthquakes of magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 that occurred on Wednesday resulted in the death of at least 1,450 people, along with the damage to 774 structures and collapse of 189 structures. The number of 521 tonnes of aid materials has been sent by 24 countries.