July 20, 2026 / 7:41 AM EDT
/ CBS/AFP
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A weakened cat was pulled from under the rubble of a collapsed residential complex in Venezuela on Saturday in what one rescuer described as a "ray of hope" in the aftermath of deadly earthquakes. More than 5,200 people were killed when back-to-back quakes struck the South American nation on June 24, with the coastal state of La Guaira hit hardest. Volunteer rescue worker Andres Carvajal said he spotted the cat during a search in a La Guaira housing complex that had been reduced to rubble. "We saw the cat, it got scared and went back inside, deeper into the building," Carvajal told AFP. It was unclear when it had become trapped. "I went in, took off my glove, put some cat food on my arm... It gradually came closer and, of course, ate with a bit of desperation," the 21-year-old university student said.
A volunteer rescuer holds a cat after pulling it out from under the rubble of a building damaged by the June 24 earthquakes, in Caraballeda, state of La Guaira; Venezuela, on July 18, 2026.
