DORAL, Fla. — El Salvador was waiting for updates from their president after rescuers found a 15-year-old girl who was trapped under the rubble since the 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes struck on Wednesday in Venezuela.
Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele deployed the first search-and-rescue teams and paramedics on Thursday to work in the disaster zones in northern Venezuela’s state of La Guaira.
On Friday morning, Bukele shared an update on social media that kept the country and his followers in suspense. It was from a Salvadoran team working in the town of Caraballeda.
“We have found Camila Sofía Medina Rivas alive,” Bukele wrote, as Venezuela’s official death toll had increased to more than 920.
Camila had been “trapped along with her pet on the ninth floor” of a building in the Bahía Mar apartment complex at the Caribe neighborhood, according to Bukele and Salvadoran authorities.
“Her mother is waiting for her downstairs with part of our team,” Bukele wrote on X. “We still need to break through several walls to reach her, so our teams have brought more tools.”
On Friday afternoon, Bukele shared an audio of the communication in Spanish between Camila and a Grupo USAR-El Salvador rescuer, who asked her to make noise and keep her spirits high.
“I can only move my legs, stretch them,” Camila said, according to the audio that the president shared on X. The girl later added, “Thank you!”
Early Saturday morning, Bukele, who nicknamed the girl “Cami” during his updates, reported rescuers had freed Camila’s little dog named “Chanel.”
“Our teams are working to create the necessary space that will allow us to reach her and carry out the rescue safely. God willing, we will soon be able to rescue her as well,” Bukele wrote on X about Camila.
Hemos logrado rescatar a Chanel, la perrita de Camila Sofía.
— Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) June 27, 2026
Camila aún permanece entre los escombros. Nuestros equipos trabajan para generar el espacio necesario que permita acceder hasta ella y efectuar el rescate de forma segura.
Dios permita que pronto podamos rescatarla… pic.twitter.com/RA4tEKOpOX
Bukele also announced that a Salvadoran nurse had found 39-year-old survivor, Nayarit Colmenares, on Friday and she was trapped in the rubble of another building in Caraballeda.
After seven hours of work, the nurse, Heidy Aguilar, helped to pull Colmenares out of the rubble on the sixth floor of a building in the Palmar Este neighborhood, according to Bukele.
“Her health condition is very delicate, but she is still alive. Our teams have already managed to insert an IV line to administer fluids to her while we continue the rescue efforts,” Bukele wrote. “God willing, we will manage to get her out alive and stabilize her, once she is out of the rubble.”
Salvadoran officials reported that Bukele deployed about 300 rescuers with some 150 tons of equipment and machinery — in less than 35 hours.
¡Ya casi Cami! 🇸🇻🇻🇪 pic.twitter.com/ne8mUco6Hd
— Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) June 26, 2026
Hemos encontrado con vida a Camila Sofía Medina Rivas, una niña de 15 años atrapada junto a su mascota en el noveno piso de un edificio colapsado.
— Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) June 26, 2026
Su madre la está esperando abajo con parte de nuestro equipo.
Aún debemos romper varias paredes para llegar hasta ella, por lo que… pic.twitter.com/SFw04pnXJY
Related list: Drop-off locations in South Florida
More HELPING VENEZUELA coverage
- Centro Comunitario AFE hosts collection drive in Miami-Dade
- Weston-based charity partners with local pharmacy
- Veteran-led Project DYNAMO delivers 20,000 pounds of aid in 1st 48 hours
- Altruism at El Arepazo feeds Global Empowerment Mission’s team effort

- Food For The Poor packs disaster relief kits with ‘hopeful’ hand-written notes
- U.S. Southern Command focuses on airport damage
- State Department deploys Miami-Dade search-and-rescue team

- Miami Beach opens 4 new aid drop-off locations
- Miramar to keep 6 aid drop-off locations open 24/7
- Miami-Dade’s tax collector opens 11 drop-off locations
- Doral opens 4 aid drop-off locations

- Aid drop-off location opens in Homestead
- Starlink offers free service through July 25, but a kit is $470
- International Medical Corps deploys staff, needs donations
- Save The Children asks for emergency fund donations

- Samaritan’s Purse focuses on ‘emergency field hospital’
- Red Cross asks for Disaster Response Emergency Fund donations
- UN asks for donations for ‘underfunded’ program for kids

- World Vision asks for ‘disaster relief fund’ donations
- World Central Kitchen asks for donations for fresh meals
- United Way Miami launches ‘Operation Helping Hands’
Copyright 2026 by WPLG Local10.com - All rights reserved.

