DORAL, Fla. — It has been 17 days since the 7.2- and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes struck in northern Venezuela, and a search-and-rescue team was trying to pull out a boy from the rubble in the state of La Guaira.

On Friday, Mexican volunteers with the Brigada Internacional de Rescate Topos Azteca told The Washington Post that they had detected “signs of life,” as they searched for a 9-year-old boy in the coastal town of Caraballeda.

Francisco Bastardo told El Pitazo that his 9-year-old son, Fabio, and his mother, Kiriaki Navarro, were in a 6th-floor apartment at Las Residencias Tahití, one of the buildings that collapsed.

Jean Sosa, a volunteer, told Reuters that he believed he had communicated with Fabio until July 2nd. Others had tried to find him with drones, dogs, and a ground-penetrating radar, but failed.

On Saturday, Venezuelan officials reported the official death toll had increased to 4,333, there were 16,740 injured, and about 18,000 people were displaced.