Rescue teams in La Guaira, Venezuela, pulled a survivor from the rubble of a collapsed building on Monday following two powerful earthquakes.

The rescue serves as a rare moment of hope amid a deepening humanitarian crisis in the northern coastal state, where infrastructure has been decimated.

Emergency teams located the individual beneath the debris of a structure that collapsed during the seismic events. While some reports identify the survivor as a woman [4], other sources describe the rescued person as a 21-year-old man [1].

There are conflicting reports regarding the duration of the survivor's entrapment. Some agencies said the rescue occurred four days after the quakes [3, 4], while others said the person was buried for five days [2]. Despite the timeframe, the survivor was found alive and calling for assistance.

"We need help," the survivor said [2].

The operation took place in the La Guaira region, where the earthquakes caused widespread destruction of residential and commercial buildings. Rescue workers have been scouring the ruins of the coastal city to find others who may be trapped beneath the concrete.

The scale of the tragedy continues to grow as recovery efforts proceed. The death toll from the earthquakes has climbed to nearly 1,500 people [4]. Local authorities and international teams continue to navigate rubble-strewn streets to locate victims, and provide medical aid to those injured in the collapse.

“"We need help."”

The rescue of a survivor several days after the initial tremors highlights both the resilience of victims and the critical window for search-and-rescue operations in seismic zones. However, the discrepancy in reporting regarding the survivor's identity and the timeline of the rescue underscores the chaotic nature of information flow during large-scale disasters in Venezuela.