Venezuela Daughter Survived 32‑Hour Rubble Trapping, Thanks to Ketchup and Cheese
On 24 June 2026, two severe earthquakes hit northern Venezuela, the second measuring a record 7.5‑magnitude. In the coastal town of Caraballeda, a 10‑storey building collapsed, burying its inhabitants in a swirling mound of concrete and concrete blocks. 12‑year‑old Fabiana Blanco was trapped inside the first‑floor flat for 32 hours before rescue teams finally carried her to safety.
Karina, a physical‑education teacher, was fleeing the initial tremor when the building began to collapse. "I saw the building and then a gap where my apartment used to be," she recalled. The fatherless woman arrived only to find that Fabiana’s bedroom had been swallowed by rubble, with a thin layer of dust keeping the roof almost against Fabiana’s face.
"I had hope and faith; a bottle of ketchup and some grated cheese kept me conscious," Fabiana told reporters, describing how she managed to straighten a bent leg and avoid severe injury while the walls had nearly crushed her. “I could not feel the sound of any help arriving, yet I heard a voice calling from the debris,” she added.
Search efforts were frantic. Firefighters initially reached the site early on the morning, only to make no headway. A volunteer named Viktor later returned repeatedly to the collapse site, eventually finding Fabiana’s voice in a whispered video she recorded. The rescue team subsequently dug a narrow tunnel, using hands and makeshift tools, eventually carving out a hole large enough to pull Fabiana to the surface at 02:00 local time, 32 hours after the quakes.
After her extraction, Fabiana spent the remainder of the night in a temporary shelter and has since moved in with her grandmother. She suffered only a fractured left foot and superficial bruises. “I am still scared to lie down for fear of revisiting the moment I was trapped,” she told the reporters.
Karina reflected on the violence and chaos around her, stating, “Unfortunately the building’s debris left almost 50 residents trapped; we must prepare for a long recovery.” She added that the mother‑daughter bond had become stronger than ever: “I will forever cherish the fact that my daughter is alive.”
The 24 June earthquakes claimed 3,342 confirmed lives, leaving tens of thousands missing. The Caraballeda disaster has highlighted the need for emergency preparedness, community solidarity and permanent support for the provinces most susceptible to seismic events.
