A three-year-old child was pulled alive from rubble in Caracas yesterday, six days after a devastating earthquake levelled large parts of the Venezuelan capital. The rescue came as British search-and-rescue teams remained on standby amid political delays and bureaucratic wrangling. Sources close to the Foreign Office confirm that a team of 12 urban search-and-rescue specialists from Manchester has been ready to deploy since Wednesday, but has been blocked by unresolved diplomatic protocols and concerns over security on the ground.
The child, identified only as Sofia, was found trapped beneath a collapsed school in the working-class district of Petare. Rescuers heard her crying shortly after dawn and dug for four hours using bare hands and basic tools. A medic on site said she was dehydrated and suffering from a broken leg, but conscious and able to speak.
'She asked for water and her mother. The mother is still missing,' he told me. The death toll has now surpassed 4,000, according to unofficial tallies compiled by local NGOs.
The official government figure remains 1,200. President Nicolás Maduro has declared a state of emergency but has barred foreign military flights and restricted aid shipments to those approved by his administration. UK aid officials have privately expressed frustration at the delays.
'We have the capability, the equipment and the will. But we cannot move without a green light from the host government,' a DFID source said. The standoff mirrors similar bottlenecks after the 2010 Haiti earthquake, when US military control of the airport slowed international relief.
Meanwhile, the clock is ticking. Survivors are unlikely to last beyond the third day without water. That Sofia survived six days is a miracle.
But for how many others, the question remains: did politics cost them their lives?
