Toddler Survives 6 Days Under Venezuela Quake Rubble
Photo: REUTERS
A Jordanian rescue team pulled three-year-old Klieber Morán alive from the wreckage in La Guaira state six days after catastrophic earthquakes devastated Venezuela. Video footage captured rescuers cheering as they extracted the child from the debris.
Acting President Delcy Rodríguez characterized the boy’s survival as a “moment of hope” amidst the ongoing disaster.
Medical teams provided first aid before transporting Klieber to a hospital in the capital, Caracas. Assembly President Jorge Rodríguez confirmed that the child’s vital signs are stable and noted that his rescue proves there is still hope of finding survivors.
This recovery occurred well beyond the initial 72-hour window that experts consider critical for finding people alive under rubble.
The humanitarian situation remains dire as the death toll from the 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude quakes reached 1,943. More than 10,000 people are injured, and tens of thousands remain missing. NASA satellite data indicates the tremors likely destroyed or damaged 58,870 buildings.
UNHCR warned that widespread food shortages and severed communications have crippled La Guaira. Daniela Armas, an 18-year-old vendor, described the intense struggle for resources: “sometimes people nearly kill each other for food... it’s like a cockfight.”
To address these needs, the UNHCR is seeking $15 million to provide relief for 30,000 people over the next six months.
Meanwhile, World Health Organization (WHO) spokesperson Christian Lindmeier cautioned that health services face extreme pressure, raising the risk of measles and diphtheria outbreaks. While a 47-ton UN shipment of emergency medical kits and newborn supplies arrived Tuesday, the scale of the tragedy continues to grow.
As international teams from the US and Mexico continue searching, families have begun burying their dead. At a local makeshift morgue, Wilker Molalla waited to identify nine members of his family. “There were 11 people in my household,” he said. “Only two of us survived because we were at work.”
Source: BBC (adapted)
