Helping Venezuela: Salvadoran rescuers work to free 15-year-old survivor in Caraballeda

Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele reports rescue team frees teen’s dog named ‘Chanel’

This combination of satellite images provided by Vantor shows buildings in Caraballeda, Venezuela on Dec. 28, 2025, left, and on Friday, June 26, 2026, after an earthquake. (Satellite image ©2026 Vantor via AP) (Satellite image ©2026 Vantor) (Satellite image ©2026 Vantor v)

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.

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.

Related list: Drop-off locations in South Florida

More HELPING VENEZUELA coverage

Venezuela Survivors walk on Friday near a toy that was abandoned in the rubble of an apartment building in Catia La Mar, Venezuela. (AP Foto/Fernando Vergara) (Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved) (Fernando Vergara/AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)
APTOPIX Venezuela Earthquake Rescue workers aid Daniel Cordero after pulling him from the rubble two days after an earthquake struck Catia la Mar, Venezuela, Friday, June 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara) (Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved) (Fernando Vergara/AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)
Venezuela Earthquake Venezuelan Police searches through the rubble two days after earthquake struck La Guaira, Venezuela, Friday, June 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos) (Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved) (Ariana Cubillos/AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
APTOPIX Venezuela Earthquake Rescue workers place Daniel Cordero on a stretcher after pulling him from the rubble two days after an earthquake struck Catia la Mar, Venezuela, Friday, June 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara) (Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved) (Fernando Vergara/AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)
Venezuela Earthquake Members of a religious organization distribute food to people affected two days after an earthquake struck La Guaira, Venezuela, Friday, June 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos) (Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved) (Ariana Cubillos/AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Copyright 2026 by WPLG Local10.com - All rights reserved.

About The Author
Andrea Torres

Andrea Torres

The Emmy Award-winning journalist joined the Local 10 News team in 2013. She wrote for the Miami Herald for more than 9 years and won a Green Eyeshade Award.