Earthquakes in Venezuela: an Argentine rescue dog found two children alive under the rubble

“A news that fills us with pride from Venezuela. This afternoon, during the search and rescue tasks, Argentine marines contributed to the discovery of two minors alive trapped in a collapsed structure,” they reported from the Ministry of Defense through their social networks.

The task was possible thanks to the work of the dog, which entered “a tunnel opened among the rubble“, marked a positive presence and allowed the search to be redirected and the excavation to be directed to the correct place.”

After completing his mission, The animal was recognized by the Venezuelan authorities who were there, in gratitude for their performance during the operation.

The tragedy struck the Bolivarian Republic occurred on Wednesday, June 24. After the first two earthquakes recorded that day, and after their subsequent aftershocks, four days later there were 1,450 dead, 3,150 injured and 70 thousand people missing.

Since then, more than 20 countries have already sent humanitarian assistance to the country and 2,741 international rescuers are working in the affected areas.

“The first echelon of specialized Argentine military personnel continues to work alongside local authorities and international teams in search, assistance and support tasks for the humanitarian response, with one objective that guides each effort, saving lives,” they said from Defense.

Two days after the earthquake, the Ministry of Defense activated “a humanitarian assistance operation “aimed at supporting the Venezuelan people after the devastating earthquakes”.

As officially detailed, the operation contemplated “a first transfer of military personnel, including a brigade of military personnel specialized in search and rescue in disasters (which includes dog-guide binomials) of the Argentine Navy; a joint military health team to carry out classification and first care of the injured (Triage) in the affected area; and four USAR Brigades (National Urban Search and Rescue System) dependent on the Federal Emergency Agency.”

“In addition, the sending of light water purification stations was committed, along with their respective teams of operators,” added the official communication.

At the same time, he added: “The team of specialized personnel is made up of Dog/Guide/Auxiliary trinomials; Dog/Guide trinomials; and specialists in seismic risk and collapsed structures. They are joined by veterinarians, general support personnel and a drone with an operator.”