Colombian rescuers free 11-year-old boy from Venezuelan earthquake rubble

Colombian rescuers pulled 11-year-old Moisés alive from nearly 10 feet of rubble in La Guaira after a six-hour operation that unfolded in Maiquetía and Caraballeda, on Venezuela’s coast. The boy had been trapped about 3 meters underground after powerful earthquakes struck the country.

The extraction was carried out by Colombia’s USAR COL-1 team, part of the National Unit for Disaster Risk Management, after rescuers used a scanner to locate the child. Video shared by UNGRD and by Delcy Rodríguez showed the team working through the debris before lifting Moisés to safety late Saturday, June 27.

Rodríguez, Venezuela’s interim leader, posted the footage with the message, “Every life is a source of hope for Venezuela.” Other reports said the rescue team’s work was highly precise, with the child found under the debris in Caraballeda before being brought out after careful digging.

The rescue came during a wider emergency response that has already saved dozens of people. Reuters reported that 33 people had been rescued that weekend, including several children, while other reports said the death toll had climbed to about 1,430 and that thousands remained missing. Around the same period, another 11-year-old boy and a 10-month-old baby were also reported rescued alive.

The boy’s survival briefly cut through the scale of destruction, but the scene in La Guaira also underscored the strain on emergency crews, the fragility of local buildings and the urgency of disaster preparedness in communities exposed to sudden collapse. The operation in Maiquetía and Caraballeda showed how much now depends on rapid detection, disciplined rescue work and the ability of regional teams to keep reaching buried victims before the remaining window closes.