Residents of La Guaira, a coastal city in Venezuela, are enduring a harrowing ordeal after being struck by a devastating double earthquake. The scale of destruction has been immense, with casualties and missing persons mounting rapidly.
According to the latest official figures, at least 1,430 people have died and 3,238 have been injured across Venezuela. Fears are growing that the death toll will rise dramatically, as the fate of more than 55,000 people remains unknown — many believed buried under collapsed buildings.
Over 70,000 families have received emergency assistance from Venezuelan authorities since the disaster. Yet tens of thousands of people remain unaccounted for, their whereabouts still unclear amid the ruins.
As time passes, hopes of finding survivors dwindle — but not without moments of profound relief. In La Guaira, rescuers pulled a baby alive from the rubble of the Nautilus building in Catia La Mar.
In another remarkable rescue, Colombian urban search and rescue team USAR COL-1 freed an 11-year-old boy named Moisés after more than six hours of intense efforts. The Colombian Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed the operation on X (formerly Twitter), sharing video footage of the child being carried on a stretcher immediately after his extraction.
‘Moisés is safe! After six hours of an intense operation, Colombia’s USAR COL-1 team rescued the 11-year-old boy who had been trapped under the rubble in La Guaira, Venezuela,’ the ministry wrote. ‘One more life saved. Hope always…’
The rescue came just over 72 hours after the initial quakes — and shortly before a fresh 4.8-magnitude tremor struck Venezuela’s coast. Amid the grim statistics, Moisés’s survival has reignited fragile hope for others still missing.
Families across La Guaira continue to wait in anguish, clinging to every report of movement beneath the debris. Rescuers have paused operations multiple times, calling for silence to listen for signs of life — including for a young boy named Jonathan, whose fate remains unknown.