Fabio is 9 years old and has spent eight days under the rubble of a twelve-story building that collapsed in Caraballeda, La Guaira, after the double earthquake that shook Venezuela on June 24. His father has not moved from the site. He waits, watches, counts the hours.
Rescuers from El Salvador, Argentina, and Venezuela have spent the whole night shoring up the weakened structure with wood so as not to trigger another collapse. They are only six meters away from him. It is suspected that there is another body next to the boy, possibly his mother’s, although no one has confirmed it yet.
Hours earlier, in another building in the area, they pulled Hernán Gil out alive, a 43-year-old security guard who also spent eight days trapped. That rescue gave everyone hope again. Now, with shovels in hand and the clock against them, they are trying again for Fabio.