A baby was miraculously rescued alive from the rubble of a collapsed building in Venezuela on Thursday, one of several amazing rescues that have raised the spirits of survivors and rescue workers as they struggle with the aftermath of the powerful quakes that devastated several Venezuelan cities.
The baby boy was reportedly found by neighbors, who called in other citizen volunteers and rescue workers to dig him out. The boy appeared to be uninjured when he was lifted to safety amid cheers and tears of joy. Video of the amazing rescue quickly became a viral sensation:
Other remarkable accounts of survival during the powerful quakes included three brothers who escaped with their lives from the Charaima complex in Caraballeda even as five of its eleven floors collapsed.
In the hard-hit city of La Guaira, rescue workers helped a pregnant mother deliver her child amid the ruins:
Police and rescue workers reported saving another infant, a woman, and a 12-year-old boy from collapsed buildings in La Guaira.
Rescue workers also found a dog buried under debris in Caracas, giving him sips from a water bottle while he lay pinned under the wreckage, and were able to rescue him alive.
Meanwhile, a rescue dog led workers to a man who was buried under rubble:
Venezuelan officials and international rescue teams said on Friday that hundreds of people remain trapped in the rubble, and time is running out to save the injured.
“The first few hours were the most important. There were several moments in which we would ask for silence, and yell out, ‘Is anyone alive?’” volunteer worker Daniela Guerra told NBC News on Friday.
Guerra said rescue operations were in desperate need of supplies and machinery, noting that some of her fellow volunteers suffered injuries to their hands because they lacked protective gloves when they started digging through the rubble.
About 8,000 people listed as missing after the twin earthquakes struck on Thursday have since been located, but volunteers say at least 50,000 remain missing. The official death toll on Friday stood at 589, plus over 2,000 injuries.