- A dog named Giselle was rescued after five days trapped in Venezuela earthquake rubble
- Rescue team spent five hours clearing debris to reach the trapped puppy
- Giselle showed affection to rescuers after being freed in Caraballeda, La Guaira state
A small dog named Giselle has become a symbol of hope in Venezuela after rescue teams pulled her from earthquake rubble where she had been trapped for five days, the New York Post reported. Videos shared on social media showed the moment she was freed from beneath collapsed concrete. Once she was lifted to safety, she showered her rescuer with affection. Video shows the puppy lying in a firefighter's arms, licking his face and wagging its tail.
Emotional footage captured Monday in Caraballeda, La Guaira state, shows a Salvadoran search-and-rescue team rescuing the dog. The puppy had been buried since twin earthquakes, measuring 7.2 and 7.5 in magnitude, struck just 39 seconds apart on Wednesday evening.
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According to the video, the rescue took about five hours. After detecting a faint bark from under the debris, the crew carefully cleared heavy slabs by hand to avoid causing further collapse. Once they reached her, rescuers first lowered a bottle of water through a narrow opening to hydrate the frightened, exhausted dog.
"After 5 hours, we managed to rescue this little dog who responds to the name Giselle, in Residencial El Palmar, Caraballeda," Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele said while sharing the video. He added that Giselle's owners could claim her by providing photos or videos as proof.
"If anyone is her owner, they can approach our teams in the area and prove with photos or videos that she is theirs."
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Watch the video here:
Woman gives birth in rubble
Despite fading hopes nearly a week after the disaster, survivors are still being found. Another miraculous moment cut through the destruction when a woman gave birth in the rubble. According to The Telegraph, both mother and newborn survived.
A woman identified as Dr Maria Fernanda Teran delivered a baby boy on a street beside a collapsed building in La Guaira. Bystanders helped support the woman as Teran delivered the child, who was later wrapped in blankets and handed to safety.
