Agony, then ‘a miracle’: Venezuelan families describe reuniting with rescued loved ones

LA GUAIRA, Venezuela — Amid the crumbled buildings that now shape the city’s skyline, rescuers and families looking for missing loved ones have been tirelessly parsing through the rubble since Wednesday’s two devastating earthquakes hit in northern Venezuela. Anguished relatives seeking loved ones know time is not on their side as they cling to hope that their loved ones can be found safe. For some, the good news started with a whisper — or a baby’s cry. On Thursday, a father stood in front of a collapsed apartment building here, shouting his adult son’s name over and over, searching for a sign he was still alive a day after the powerful quakes. The father, José Alberto Gallipoli, went down into the building’s crumbled basement to see if he could hear his son responding to his calls. “The scene was devastating,” Gallipoli said. “I yelled out my son Jofram’s name with the last shred of faith I had left.” But then he heard a faint whisper. It was Jofram, still alive, alongside his wife and their 4-year-old son. The family had spent more than 24 hours trapped under the rubble of their seven-story apartment building. Gallipoli had been in Caracas, about 20 miles away, when the 7.2- and 7.5-magnitude quakes rattled Venezuela less than a minute apart. They were among the strongest to hit Venezuela in more than a century. Quickly after the ground stopped shaking, Gallipoli took off to La Guaira in search of his son, daughter-in-law and 4-year-old grandson. He went on foot to avoid issues with roads being blocked by debris. As he parsed through the destruction where his family was buried, Gallipoli said he felt helplessness, frustration and angst “knowing that they are there alive, with time running out.” “Eventually, they will run out of oxygen,” Gallipoli told NBC News in Spanish via WhatsApp. “There is no food, they don’t have electricity or water.” Rescuers on the scene worked for hours to get Gallipoli’s family out safely. “They asked them to speak and asked them to knock on specific places, so they could determine how to get access to where they were,” Gallipoli said, adding that the family appeared to be together and unharmed. The rescue mission was precarious. Rescuers lacked appropriate equipment but had “enough will, enough interest and desire to do this,” Gallipolli said. Video obtained by NBC News captured the moment Gallipolli’s son, daughter-in-law and grandson emerged from the rubble through a pathway rescuers had cleared away for them overnight. The boy came out first, telling rescuers, “I feel OK.” His parents followed, hugging everyone there in gratitude for having rescued them. The level of devastation in the state of La Guaira, just north of the capital, is among the worst seen across Venezuela. Thousands of earthquake survivors crowded in open spaces, some even setting up camping tents since they can’t go back inside their destroyed homes. Acting President Delcy Rodríguez said the region has been militarized as additional humanitarian aid for those affected is on the way. On Friday afternoon, officials had reported 920 deaths and over 3,000 people injured. More than 70,000 have been reported missing by a Venezuelan volunteer site. A baby’s cry Buried underneath the debris of another eight-story apartment building in La Guaira were Dayana Patiño and her newborn son, just 18 days old. They were covered by so much rubble that Patiño could not move. She tightly held her baby in her arms for hours, unable to breastfeed him. It wasn’t until Thursday morning that volunteers in the area heard her voice and the baby’s cry coming from the collapsed building, said Merly Adreina Quintero, one of the volunteers. Quintero told Noticias Telemundo they had been searching for Patiño and her baby for about 12 hours. “They were already presumed dead,” she said in Spanish. With guidance from first responders, volunteers began clearing away debris to create a pathway to reach the mother and her baby, Quintero said. The baby was removed from the rubble first and handed over to his father. Mother and son were both then taken to a clinic in Caracas because health centers in La Guaira were too overwhelmed, Quintero said. Rescuers were not able to get to the Patiños until 1 a.m. Friday. “She fought to keep her baby safe,” Quintero said. “It was a miracle because neither the mother nor the baby suffered any fractures.” Ana Vanessa Herrero reported from La Guaira; Nicole Acevedo and Geraldine Cols Azócar reported from New York.