A two-year-old boy was rescued alive after six days trapped under rubble from twin earthquakes in Venezuela that have killed at least 2,295 people and left over 50,000 missing.
Reuters reported on July 2 that the death toll from two powerful earthquakes that struck Venezuela the previous week has risen to at least 2,295, with 11,267 injured and over 50,000 missing. Since the twin earthquakes on June 24, Venezuela has experienced nearly 800 aftershocks, making rescue and recovery efforts significantly more difficult.
On the same day, 23-year-old Andreína Sarmiento, aunt of two-year-old Kleiber Morán who survived a miracle rescue after six days trapped under a collapsed building, spoke to the BBC about her overwhelming joy at being reunited with her nephew. She expressed hope that his parents would also be found alive and rescued.
Kleiber Morán was pulled from the rubble of his home in La Guaira state in northern Venezuela by Jordanian rescue workers early on Tuesday, June 30 local time. Venezuela's interim President Delcy Rodríguez described the rescue as creating hope for Venezuelans still waiting for loved ones and family members to be found.
Sarmiento said she would care for Kleiber with the love and warmth of a mother until his sister returns. "I pray to God to give me strength, because he's only two years old and I'm not his mother," Sarmiento said while sitting beside her nephew's hospital bed in Caracas.
"It hurts a lot because my sister always told me he was my son, and now it's like she's sending him to me and saying this is her son, he's your responsibility," she added emotionally.
Reports indicate that when Kleiber saw his aunt, he immediately looked at her face and said "Aunt." He then went into shock and cried intensely until reaching the hospital, where he slept through the night. By Wednesday, July 1, his condition stabilized and he began gradually improving.