From the rubble in Venezuela, an unexpected story of survival cuts through days of tragedy

LA GUAIRA, Venezuela (AP) — A mix of rescue teams and civilians on Sunday peered at a mountain of rubble almost indistinguishable from the other ruins lining swathes of the northern Venezuelan coast following two devastating earthquakes.

In the days since Wednesday’s devastating 7.2 and 7.5 quakes, search teams and locals had believed that there were no signs of life under the concrete mass in La Guaira state, one of the hardest-hit areas.

Then on Sunday came a burst of movement. A pair of dust-coated legs was pulled out of a hole by rescue teams from Virginia, France and Venezuela.

Teams gently carried the man from the structure where he had been trapped for four days, his body slack but still gripping his phone, onto a black tarp and administered an IV.

Then came his young son, pulled shirtless and almost unresponsive over a pack of hard-hat clad rescue workers with the words “Fairfax County Urban Search & Rescue” emblazoned on the backs.

“Slow, slow, gentle, gentle,” chanted rescue teams in a mix of Spanish and English, as they passed the father and son through a crowd of onlookers into a nearby ambulance.

The teams burst out into applause days into search and rescue efforts, at a time that hope of finding survivors was dimming.

Associated Press journalists Juan Pablo Arraez and Matías Delacroix were among the th...