A three-year-old boy has been rescued alive from beneath the rubble in La Guaira, six days after two powerful earthquakes struck Venezuela, offering a rare moment of hope amid the country’s ongoing humanitarian crisis.
The remarkable rescue took place in one of the worst-hit northern regions, where tens of thousands of residents remain homeless following the 7.2- and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes that struck less than a minute apart on June 24.
Authorities say the disaster has claimed around 2,000 lives, while approximately 6,400 people have been rescued. Several United Nations agencies and humanitarian partners are working alongside local authorities to provide emergency shelter, healthcare, protection, clean water, and other essential services to affected families.
“Every life matters,” the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Wednesday as local and international search-and-rescue teams continued operations in La Guaira.
The UN Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) teams are also assessing the hardest-hit communities to determine where humanitarian assistance is most urgently needed.
The earthquakes severely damaged infrastructure, destroying or damaging about 1,000 buildings, including hospitals, as well as around 400 schools and critical water facilities.
In response, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) delivered its first 47-tonne shipment of humanitarian supplies to Venezuela on Tuesday. The delivery follows additional emergency cargo sent from Panama on June 28 and is expected to support more than 100,000 children and their families over the next three months.
“UNICEF is on the ground, working tirelessly to assist as many children and families as possible,” UNICEF representative Gabriel Vockel said in La Guaira. “The first flights carrying water, medicines, and other emergency supplies have arrived, and we are grateful for the solidarity shown. We also appeal for more donations because every contribution helps us reach more children and save more lives.”
The shipment, coordinated by the European Union through UNICEF’s logistics hub in Copenhagen, includes emergency medical kits, maternal and newborn care supplies, disease prevention materials, water purification equipment, storage containers, child-friendly tents, wheelchairs, and educational materials designed to help children regain a sense of normalcy.
“Families in the affected states urgently need safe water and access to healthcare,” said UNICEF Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, Roberto Benes.
UNICEF estimates that more than 680,000 children across six earthquake-affected states require urgent humanitarian assistance following what has been described as Venezuela’s most devastating seismic disaster in over a century.
The agency also warned that communities remain at risk as more than 600 aftershocks have been recorded since the initial earthquakes.
To sustain relief efforts, UNICEF estimates it needs $52 million for its earthquake response, part of its broader 2026 Humanitarian Action for Children appeal for Venezuela, which totals $137.6 million. Before the earthquakes struck, only 35% of the appeal had been funded.
Published by Ejoh Caleb
