A young child who had been trapped beneath collapsed structures in northern Venezuela has been successfully extracted by rescue workers, emerging from six days under the rubble with only minor cuts and bruising. The boy's immediate family members remain unaccounted for and are presumed to have died in the initial collapse that destroyed their home.

Whilst the child recovers in hospital under the care of his adult aunt, search and recovery efforts continue across Venezuela following last week's earthquake sequence, which has officially claimed more than two thousand lives. Authorities anticipate the death toll will rise substantially, with tens of thousands of residents still reported missing or displaced, making the child's survival an exceptional outcome in an otherwise catastrophic situation.