The Salvadoran rescue team successfully extracted Marlene Angulo, a 69-year-old Venezuelan woman, alive this Saturday. She had been trapped under the rubble left by the earthquakes that occurred on June 24 in the state of La Guaira, in northern Venezuela.
The president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, announced the successful rescue on his X account with a detail that moved thousands of people: as she emerged from the rubble, the woman asked for a Coca-Cola. "Our doctors explained to her that, for the moment, the most important thing was to hydrate her intravenously to stabilize her," Bukele wrote.
Approximately an hour and a half earlier, the Salvadoran president had informed that the team had located Marlene alive, although he warned that access was difficult. "Access is difficult, but with God's help, we will succeed," he pointed out in that initial message.
In a video released alongside the announcement of the location, a rescuer from the Salvadoran team introduced himself to the woman: "We are from the OHR of El Salvador. We are here to help you. How are you feeling? Stay calm, you will be with us very soon."
This is the third successful rescue by the Salvadoran team since their arrival in Venezuela. Previously, the rescuers saved Nayarit Colmenares, 39 years old, who was trapped for more than 48 hours on the sixth floor of a collapsed building in La Guaira, and Camila Sofía Medina Rivas, 15 years old, found on the ninth floor of the Bahía Mar building along with her puppy Chanel.
El Salvador deployed six planes with 300 rescuers and paramedics, as well as 150 tons of equipment and supplies, in one of the largest humanitarian missions in its history.
The rescue of Marlene Angulo occurs amidst a disaster of historic proportions. The two earthquakes with magnitudes of 7.2 and 7.5 that struck northern Venezuela on June 24 have left, as of the close of this Saturday, at least 1,430 dead, more than 3,328 injured, and around 50,000 missing.
The UN estimates that 6.76 million people were affected by the earthquakes. In La Guaira, the most devastated area, 250 buildings collapsed, including the José María Vargas Hospital, and the Maiquetía International Airport went out of operation.
More than 300 aftershocks have complicated rescue efforts, including a new earthquake of magnitude 4.8 recorded this Saturday.
More than 1,000 rescuers from 16 countries are working on the operations, with teams from the United States, Mexico, Spain, Brazil, Colombia, Qatar, and the Dominican Republic, among others.
The United States committed 150 million dollars in humanitarian aid and deployed nearly 160 urban rescue experts.
Bukele concluded his announcement regarding the rescue of Marlene Angulo with a message of hope: "God willing, we can save more lives. Strength, Venezuela."
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