Videos show US rescue team pulling mother, 9-month-old baby from rubble in Venezuela: “Delivery of hope”

A mother and her nine-month-old baby were pulled from the rubble of a collapsed building in Venezuela by an American search and rescue team. after two earthquakes which killed more than 1,400 people and left countless others missing.

Virginia Urban Search and Rescue Task Force 1 shared a video of its members pulling a woman from the rubble of a collapsed building. Neighbors were happy when he was pulled out of the accident.

Another video, shared by the US State Department, showed a baby being pulled from the rubble wrapped in a blue cloth. The baby’s face was blurry, but she could be heard crying.

“In the face of impossible odds, hope endures,” the department wrote, adding that “every life saved is a victory.”

Both had “only minor injuries,” a Virginia search and rescue team said.

“This is our reason,” the group wrote. “The delivery of hope.”

This team is one of the US supplies sent to Venezuela to help after the deadly earthquake. A senior administration official said on Saturday there were about 250 special rescuers, including a team from Virginia, as well as rescue planes, mobile hospitals and the USS Fort Lauderdale, an amphibious assault ship.

Urban-based Urban Search and Rescue Task Force 2 was on the ground in Venezuela “conducting a complete assessment of the damage to the land and the airport in all affected areas,” the Los Angeles County Fire Department said in X. The department said in another post that there were 71 Los Angeles-based members of the group.

Volunteers from Mexico, El Salvador, Switzerland and beyond were working in the country, Venezuelan officials said on Friday.

The situation in the country has become like this he grew desperate an hour since the two earthquakes attacked on Wednesday. People are now taking matters into their own hands, digging through the rubble of destroyed homes and apartments in search of their loved ones while complaining about the lack of government assistance.

Venezuelans reported seeing a few rescue teams in the worst-hit areas Acting President Delcy Rodríguez he said the Venezuelan government is proposing a full response. The government of Caracas said on Saturday about 200 people were rescued. But online data says about 51,000 are still missing.

Because the two earthquakes happened within a minute, many people did not have time to get out of their buildings, Northwestern University professor Emile Okal told CBS News. The shallow depth of the earthquake led to a large impact on the area.

This number may include people unable to communicate with loved ones due to lack of cell phone signals, and other reports may be repeated, according to the Associated Press. Help centers consider the first 48 to 72 hours as the critical time to bring people back alive, although that can be extended if they have access to food and water.

Diana Sandrano told “CBS Saturday Morning” that she will search for her missing brother “as long as it takes.”

“He deserves to live and have a future,” Sandrano said, after a day of searching.