US rescuers save 9-month-old baby from Venezuela earthquake rubble

A U.S. urban search and rescue team dramatically pulled a 9-month-old baby and their mother from the rubble of a collapsed building in Venezuela, days after a devastating earthquake struck the region.

The U.S. State Department shared a video of the infant, wrapped in a blue cloth, being rescued. "Hope endures even in the face of extreme adversity," the department stated, calling every life saved a victory. The rescued mother and child sustained only minor injuries, according to the rescue team.

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Hope endures even in the face of extreme adversity. Every moment of saving a life is a victory.

The U.S. response included deploying approximately 250 specialized civilian rescue personnel, along with aircraft carrying relief supplies, a mobile hospital, and the USS Portland amphibious transport dock ship. The Virginia-based urban search and rescue team was among several U.S. support units sent to aid in the earthquake's aftermath.

Venezuela's National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez reported that the earthquake, which struck on March 24 with two powerful quakes measuring 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude, had claimed at least 1,450 lives and injured 3,150 people. International rescue teams, including volunteers from Mexico, El Salvador, and Switzerland, were also on the ground, racing against time to find survivors.

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This disaster has claimed the lives of 1,450 people, making it the most tragic natural disaster in our country's history.