A baby just 18 days old and his mother survived buried for more than 32 hours under the rubble of a collapsed building in La Guaira, Venezuela, in one of the most emotional rescues recorded following the devastating earthquakes that struck the country on Wednesday, June 24.
The little Juan David was pulled out alive around 11 PM on Thursday, June 25, in the Playa Grande neighborhood of Catia La Mar. His mother, Dayana Patiño, was rescued approximately an hour later, in the early hours of Friday, according to reported El Heraldo of Colombia.
Both were taken to the El Ávila Clinic in Caracas, where doctors confirmed they were stable and without any fractures.
The rescue was made possible by the determination of Dayana's husband and brothers, who never wavered in their search, along with volunteer neighbors who manually cleared the debris using buckets and shovels.
The content creator Andreina Quintero, who documented the operation, explained that the voices of the baby and her mother could be heard among the rubble, which helped guide the rescuers.
“Different people and volunteers came to help remove the debris with buckets and shovels. The baby was rescued at 11 PM, and they managed to get the mother out in the early morning,” he recounted.
The rescue videos were widely shared on social media.
In one of them, the father is seen receiving Juan David with tears; in another, the voices of those who accompanied Dayana in her last moments under the rubble can be heard: "Sister, I love you, we made it. Glory to God, the glory is for God, we made it."
The rescue of mother and child became one of the symbols of hope amid a catastrophe of historical proportions.
The two earthquakes on June 24 —with magnitudes of 7.2 and 7.5, occurring just 39 seconds apart— were classified by the United States Geological Survey as the strongest recorded in Venezuela since 1900.
The state of La Guaira turned out to be the most devastated area, with 383 buildings affected either partially or totally. The governor declared a state of natural disaster, and the area was militarized.
The number of victims has continued to rise since then. The official toll announced this Friday by Jorge Rodríguez, president of the National Assembly, has reached 920 deceased, over 3,360 injured, and 4,000 affected individuals.
The UN estimated that up to 50,000 people may be missing and that 6.76 million were affected by the disaster.
More than 200 aftershocks have been recorded since the initial earthquakes, and rescuers from 16 countries—including the United States, Spain, France, and Colombia—continue to work among the rubble.
"We must announce with sorrow, because they are our sisters and brothers, that 920 people have died due to the violent action of the earthquakes on June 24," declared Jorge Rodríguez this Friday.
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