Amid the devastation from recent earthquakes in Venezuela, emergency response teams from California, Virginia, and Florida are collaborating with local rescue personnel to find survivors.

On Sunday, members of the Fairfax County Urban Search and Rescue team from Virginia focused on locating individuals amidst the debris of a collapsed building in La Guaira, Venezuela, a region severely impacted by the disaster. The efforts there are part of a broader search-and-rescue mission in areas ravaged by the earthquakes.

On Monday, amid the sweltering tropical climate, a distraught mother stopped the American search-and-rescue team. Her three children, aged 9 to 16, were inside an apartment on the ninth floor of a 12-story building that had crumbled. Caraballeda, a part of La Guaira state heavily hit, lay in ruins.

The American team, led by Trey Espy, an assistant chief with the Los Angeles County Fire Department, was en route to another disaster zone but halted for the emergency. Two search dogs confirmed a sign of life under the debris. Specialty devices detected faint tapping noises, prompting the team to request special excavation tools from their base camp.

Since responding, workers have been tirelessly excavating using concrete cutters, shovels, axes, and sometimes their bare hands, striving against time. “We know time is ticking,” Espy stated, emphasizing the urgency of their mission.

Specialists from Los Angeles, Fairfax County, and Miami-Dade County are among global teams striving to rescue as many trapped individuals as possible. The earthquakes, striking just days apart, devastated large coastal zones near Caracas, Venezuela’s capital. The death toll has risen to at least 1,900, with suspicions that thousands may remain trapped in the wreckage of hundreds of buildings.