Father and son rescued after four days trapped beneath Venezuela earthquake rubble

Father and son rescued after four days trapped beneath Venezuela earthquake rubble A father and his son have been rescued alive after spending four days trapped beneath the rubble of a collapsed building following Venezuela's earthquakes. A father and his son have been pulled alive from the rubble of a collapsed building, four days after two earthquakes struck Venezuela. The pair were rescued on Sunday following a 12 hour operation by search teams in the coastal state of La Guaira, one of the areas worst affected by Wednesday's earthquakes. The death toll has now climbed to at least 1,450, while thousands more have been injured. Rescuers are continuing to search for survivors, with tens of thousands of people still reported missing. Before lifting the father and son to safety, emergency crews prepared intravenous drips while others continued searching nearby collapsed buildings for further signs of life. Rescuers used specialist search cameras to locate the pair before carefully removing unstable rubble to reach them. A member of the French Civil Security said: "They are extremely weak, as any patient trapped under rubble for four days would be. We are doing everything possible to rehydrate them and administer various medications during the extraction process, which is moving very slowly." The operation involved French Civil Security teams alongside members of the Fairfax County Urban Search and Rescue Team from Virginia in the United States. The same international team rescued a mother and her nine-month-old baby from the rubble on Saturday. Both are understood to have sustained only minor injuries. Two 11-year-old boys were also rescued in separate operations over the weekend. One of the boys, named Moises, emerged from the remains of his home to applause from rescuers after spending days trapped beneath the rubble. More than 2,600 rescue workers from around the world are now taking part in the search effort, supported by nearly 140 specially trained search dogs, according to Venezuelan authorities. The risk of further damage remains as aftershocks continue to shake Venezuela, with quakes measuring 4.2 and 4.5 recorded on Sunday morning. Many Venezuelans have turned to non-governmental digital databases to report loved ones as missing after mobile phone networks were disrupted in the aftermath of the earthquakes. More than 50,000 people have been listed as missing on one such database, although it remains unclear how many have since been found or reunited with their families. At least 33 people have been rescued over the weekend, but hopes of finding more survivors are fading as the search enters its fifth day.