Two boys pulled from Venezuela earthquake rubble among 33 people rescued over weekend

More stories of miraculous rescue have emerged from Venezuela on Sunday, days after two powerful earthquakes struck the country.

Interim President Delcy Rodríguez said 33 people had been pulled from debris alive over the weekend. Among them were two 11-year-old boys, who were separately rescued from collapsed buildings within hours of each other on Sunday.

However, with tens of thousands of people still missing, hopes of finding more survivors are fading by the hour.

Aid agencies say the first 48 to 72 hours after a disaster are crucial for finding people alive. Relatives of the missing are facing a fifth night waiting for news of their loved ones.

As of Sunday, least 1,450 people have been killed in what Rodríguez said was the "most brutal natural catastrophe" in Venezuela's history.

The magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 quakes on Wednesday struck within 39 seconds and caused almost 800 buildings to collapse, leaving many people trapped inside.

Desperate families have been digging through the debris – some by hand – trying to find loved ones.

Some have told the BBC that they can hear people under the rubble, but cannot move the heavy slabs of concrete, and are waiting anxiously for heavy machinery.

Though the crucial 72-hour window had passed, rescuers had not given up on Sunday, saying people could still be found alive, especially if they had access to food and water.

UN Resident Co-ordinator Gianluca Rampolla told the BBC experts think it is still possible to find people alive, given the way some buildings have collapsed.

But "time is running short," he said, and added "temperatures are very high".

Rodríguez has been sharing optimistic messages on social media, including videos of rescues from over the weekend.

Rescuers shared video footage of an 11-year-old boy, named as Moises, being pulled from twisted debris - his eyes covered to protect them from the sun.

Colombia's National Unit for Disaster Risk Management (UNGRD) said Moises was buried under about 3m (9.8ft) of debris, and the rescue team spent six hours conducting "high-precision work" on Saturday to reach him.

Reuters reported that a rescuer was overheard on a walkie-talkie saying the young boy was found near his sister and mother, who had both died.

Hours later, Rodríguez posted a video on X, purportedly showing the rescue of a second 11-year-old boy in the town of Caraballeda.

"In these hours, every life is hope for Venezuela," she wrote.

Also in Caraballeda, French and American teams rescued a father and his teenage son from under rubble on Sunday, news agency AFP reported.

Officials said the coastal region of La Guaira, where Caraballeda is located, has been hit the hardest.

Rescuers' efforts have been hampered by aftershocks, which are in turn terrifying residents.

"To be honest, it makes you feel kind of nervous. Any little noise... horrible," Jesús Andueza, a 64-year-old bus driver told BBC Mundo.

Frustration has also grown, with some saying the government's response is too slow and inefficient. In some of the worst areas, such as Caribe and Tanaguarena, there are entire areas where debris removal has not yet started.

One person told the BBC that the government was actually hindering rescue efforts, by limiting access to affected areas and closing roads.

Thousands of people are living in their cars or camping at places like the airport and golf course, away from buildings that could collapse.

The golf course in Caraballeda has become an epicentre for the emergency response.

Its green lawn, which used to be perfectly manicured, is now a makeshift hospital and donation centre, where residents who have lost everything are sifting through piles of donated clothing and boxes of humanitarian aid.

In the area surrounding the golf course, Caraballeda's streets – cracked and covered in rubble – are marked by dust and silence, interrupted only by heavy machinery and those searching among the remains.

Milagros González, who lives in Caribe, told BBC Mundo that her building was one of the few that didn't collapse, and she fled as soon as she could to take refuge at the golf course.

"I left with my two young daughters and my two elderly relatives. But thank God we got out alive. The building can't be lived in. But we're alive, which is what matters," she said.

Rodríquez said the José María Vargas sports complex in La Guaira was also serving as an emergency response centre.

Pointing out that the armed forces were sorting clothes, medicine and food, Rodríguez said "everything is functioning as well as possible during these terrible moments, these terrible hours, that our people are enduring".

"Let them know that no one here is alone, not a single family or individual need [to] feel alone. Our people and our state are here, the social protection system is here, and international solidarity is here."

In recent days, international rescue teams from Mexico, Spain, Qatar, the US, and the UK have arrived to reinforce the search efforts.

The UN's Tom Fletcher said on Saturday that 39 search and rescue teams had been deployed from all over the world, with each consisting of 50-100 people.

"You're looking at almost 2,000 people surging in, 111 dogs, medical teams as well. We go in with these micro drones, they call them cockroach drones, that help us find people in the buildings."