Rescuers in Venezuela have pulled two 11-year-old boys alive from the rubble of collapsed buildings, offering a rare moment of hope as the country battles the devastating aftermath of two powerful earthquakes that have killed at least 1,430 people.
The boys were rescued within hours of each other after spending days trapped beneath layers of concrete and twisted metal following the magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 earthquakes that struck just 39 seconds apart on Wednesday, according to the BBC.
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The first boy, identified as Moises, was lifted from the wreckage to applause from rescue workers. Video footage showed his eyes covered to protect them from the bright sunlight as he emerged after days in darkness.
Colombia’s National Unit for Disaster Risk Management said Moises had been buried beneath about three metres of debris. Rescue teams spent six painstaking hours carrying out what they described as “high precision work” to reach him.
