In heart-stopping rescue footage released by the U.S. State Department, members of the Virginia Task Force 1 are seen carefully pulling a crying baby from the debris of a collapsed building in La Guaira, the epicenter of the devastating twin earthquakes. The infant and her mother, who was pulled out on a stretcher moments later, were trapped inside the rubble for more than a day but miraculously suffered only minor injuries. The rescue team described the moment as deeply emotional, as cheering Venezuelan onlookers watched the baby being passed to safety. The mother is believed to have shielded her child with her own body during the collapse. With the death toll continuing to rise, the State Department called the rescue a victory, writing: “Every life saved is a victory.”

Miracle moment US rescuers pull baby, mom from rubble after Venezuela quakes: ‘Hope endures’

US rescuers miraculously pulled a 9-month-old baby and her mom from the rubble of a collapsed building in Venezuela on Saturday after quakes there killed more than 1,400 people, harrowing video shows.

“Against impossible odds, hope endures,” the State Department wrote on X.

Footage from the rescue effort in one of the devastated country’s many destroyed neighborhoods showed the Virginia Urban Search and Rescue Task Force 1 working quickly to save survivors from the collapsed building.

One of the survivors was a baby who could be heard crying as the emergency crew carefully pulled her out of the rubble and took her to safety.

“American search and rescue teams rescued an infant from beneath the rubble following the earthquake in Venezuela. Every life saved is a victory,” the US State Department said in its post.

The rescue team said both the baby and her mother, who was pulled out on a stretcher, only sustained minor injuries in Wednesday’s disaster.