Rescuers and local residents in the town of Moron, in Venezuela's Carabobo state, successfully extricated a young girl from the rubble of her collapsed home after powerful twin earthquakes struck Venezuela on Wednesday.
A pair of devastating earthquakes, both exceeding magnitude 7, rocked Venezuela, causing heavy casualties and widespread destruction.
After the quakes, the young girl and her mother were trapped under rubble. The mother died at the scene, but nearby residents heard the girl’s cries for help.
Local neighbors rushed to the site immediately and, together with firefighters who arrived shortly after, managed to carve out a rescue passage through the debris, ultimately pulling the girl to safety.
According to the victim's husband, the collapsed house was the family's home. When the earthquakes struck, he was away at work, leaving his wife and their sick daughter at home alone. Now, with the house uninhabitable and his wife gone, the full burden of caring for their daughter has fallen on his shoulders. He hoped for support so that normal life can resume as soon as possible.
"When I got home, I saw that the house had completely collapsed. I was utterly devastated. I immediately asked about my family -- about my daughter and my wife. I could hear my daughter calling out to me: 'Dad! Dad! Dad!' But her mother never responded -- not a single word," said Orlando, the victim's husband. "Everyone found the little girl by following her cries for help. She had been shouting from under the rubble the whole time. When the neighbors heard her, they -- along with, I think, some firefighters and some police officers -- worked together to forcefully break through the concrete slabs that were pinning her down, and we eventually found her. Unfortunately, her mother had already passed away, but the little girl was successfully rescued," said Antonio, a neighbor who participated in the rescue.
Young girl pulled from collapsed structure after devastating earthquake doublet rocks Venezuela
