LA GUAIRA, Venezuela — Rescue workers and local volunteers in northern Venezuela discovered a rare sign of life Sunday amid widespread destruction caused by two powerful earthquakes that struck the region earlier this week. After days of searching through the rubble with little hope, rescuers found a man trapped beneath concrete debris in La Guaira state, one of the areas hardest hit by the quakes measuring 7.2 and 7.5 in magnitude on Wednesday.

Teams from Virginia, France, and Venezuela worked together to carefully extract the man, who had been buried for four days. He was found clutching his mobile phone when rescuers pulled him out and then assisted his young son, who was also trapped in the same collapsed structure. The boy was initially unresponsive and shirtless as he was carried to safety by members of the Fairfax County Urban Search & Rescue team.

Rescuers maintained a calm and steady approach, repeatedly urging each other to move slowly through a mixture of Spanish and English. The father and son were then transported on a tarp to an awaiting ambulance, an achievement that brought applause from the teams and onlookers alike.

The twin earthquakes have left widespread devastation along Venezuela’s northern coastline, with authorities reporting at least 1,450 deaths as of Sunday. The number of missing persons remains high, and rescue efforts continue amid the extensive rubble and damaged infrastructure. This recent rescue brought a brief moment of hope to a community grappling with the disaster’s human toll.