Two teenage brothers in Venezuela spent nearly a month clawing through the wreckage left by a devastating earthquake, determined to recover their mother’s body from the ruins of their home.
Winder Delfin, 17, and his 15-year-old brother, Deivi, searched for 26 days through the collapsed remains of their apartment building after the June 24 quake, relying on whatever they could find — from heavy tools to a kitchen knife — to reach their missing relatives.
The brothers had lived with their grandmother, Carmen, 69, their mother, Yusmani, 35, and their 10-year-old brother, Moissés, in a first-floor apartment inside a 12-story public housing block in La Guaira, a coastal state that was among the areas most severely damaged, according to The New York Times.
Winder and Deivi were returning from a waterpark when the earthquake hit. Moments later, they watched the building that held their family and their childhood collapse before their eyes.
In the weeks that followed, the boys dug day after day through the debris, searching for their grandmother, mother and younger brother with help from their father, Deivid Delfín, 44, and their stepfather, Giovanni Berroterán, 50.
“I’m no longer a boy,” Deivi told The New York Times, reflecting on the ordeal.
Their search was painstaking and improvised. They used a shovel, pickaxe, sledgehammer, jackhammer, saw and even a kitchen knife to cut and chip away at the concrete and debris that had once been their home.
On the 24th day, Deivi finally managed to break through into what had been the family’s living room. Inside, he found his younger brother’s shorts and his mother’s Bible.
Winder Delfin (pictured), 17, and his brother, Deivi, 15, spent three weeks digging through rubble from the Venezuela earthquake to find their mother’s body
Venezuela’s government says 856 buildings are damaged, and 190 collapsed completely since since the June 24 earthquakes
A few hours later, the boys discovered their grandmother.
It took another 24 hours of digging to find Yusmani and Moissés, who were located in the kitchen.
Venezuela’s government says 856 buildings are damaged, and 190 collapsed completely since the 7.2 and 7.5 quakes last month. The death toll rose to 5,069 on Friday.
The interim government of President Delcy Rodriguez added in a statement that the number of injured remains unchanged at 16,740.
The brothers, along with their father and stepfather, dug a hole to their family apartment (pictured) and recovered the bodies of their grandmother, mother and younger brother
The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction has estimated direct physical damage to housing and infrastructure at around $37 billion
Rodríguez has estimated that the earthquakes left about 18,000 people without a home.
The displaced are now living in schools, sidewalks, parks, plazas and other public spaces.
In La Guaira, survivors have been forced to improvise showers and toilets amid water shortages.
The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction has estimated direct physical damage to housing and infrastructure at around $37 billion.
