Venezuela quake miracles: 18-day-old baby saved after 32 hours; man pulled alive after 106

2 hours ago

X@StateDept

An 18-day-old baby and his mother have been rescued after being trapped for 32 hours under rubble following the 7.5-magnitude earthquake that struck Venezuela's north-central coast on Wednesday, while a 21-year-old man was also pulled alive after 106 hours.

Mother Dayana Patino, speaking from a clinic in Caracas, said she was washing dishes in her eighth-floor apartment in La Guaira when the quake struck. She grabbed her son Juan David as the building collapsed. "I felt like I was flying. Then I sank into water and mud and fell into a hole," she told the BBC.

Her left leg was pinned by concrete, and a stone pressed against her temple. She found a Bible beneath her and said: "That's when my fight to survive began." She saw a faint light in the darkness and heard her brother calling her name. "I screamed with all my might, 'I'm here!' He said, 'I found you. I promise I won't leave until I get you out.'"

Rescuers carried out a carefully planned operation, freeing the pair on Thursday night. Patino suffered leg injuries but her son escaped with only minor wounds.

Her husband Gerson, who had just parked his car when the quake struck, witnessed the building collapse. He described the moment he saw his wife and son as a "miracle." "I thought they were both dead. When I saw my son, I felt like I was born again," he said.

The family lost their home and all belongings, but Gerson said: "We've lost almost everything, but we are alive. We will rebuild everything we've lost."

In a separate rescue, a 21-year-old man identified as Aaron Levi Cantillo Vargas was pulled from the rubble in Caraballeda after 106 hours, President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador announced. A rescue team from Venezuela, Mexico and El Salvador worked for 43 hours to free him, with a deceased victim lying between them.