Incredible moment newborn baby rescued from rubble after devastating earthquakes in Venezuela

Incredible moment newborn baby rescued from rubble after devastating earthquakes in Venezuela A specialist team of British crisis-response volunteers are assisting in the operation in Venezuela where more than 1,400 people have now been confirmed dead following the quakes Footage captures the incredible moment a newborn baby pulled out alive from beneath the rubble of a collapsed building following two earthquakes in Venezuela. The nation has been rocked by the 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude quakes, which struck on Wednesday, as more than 1,400 people have now been confirmed dead and more than 70,000 are reported missing. But tales of hope have emerged amid the devastation, including the rescue of children trapped under rubble. A newborn baby was even pulled free of debris some 32 hours after the first earthquake, and their mother was also lifted free several hours later. Video shared on social media shows crowds cheering and clapping as a young man weeps with joy and hugs the child close. The baby was carried out — wrapped in a pink blanket — from the remains of a damaged house in the city of La Guaira. Engineers and other experts said the back-to-back earthquakes on Wednesday were among the most intense to hit the country in more than a century, collapsing buildings. La Guaira, in northern Venezuela, was one of the worst hit regions and has been declared a disaster zone. But locals there were shocked as the baby was rescued from the rubble. Rescuers were also in tears after an 11-year-old boy was pulled alive from under debris in the disaster zone. At this sight, one visibly emotional man said: "[We are] working together with love, because life is the important thing we have." The first earthquake hit northern Venezuela at a strength of 7.2 magnitude and the second – just 39 seconds later – struck the region at a 7.5 magnitude level. Marcos Ferreira, a geophysicist and researcher at the Geological Survey of Brazil, said the destruction in Venezuela was compounded by the back-to-back quakes, known as a doublet. A similar incident took place in Turkey and Syria in 2023, killing almost 60,000 people. The expert said: "It is as if I am screaming and then someone starts screaming, too. That amplifies the vibration and adds to the potential hazard." International rescue teams have poured into Venezuela to aid the hunt for survivors with the UK government sending £2million in humanitarian aid. Seventeen flights carrying more than 1,600 foreign rescuers have landed in Venezuela in recent days. The first 48 to 72 hours are critical for saving lives – but locals say the government has mobilised too slowly.