Rescuers Just Six Meters Away from Trapped Venezuelan Boy Fabio

International rescue teams are racing against time on Friday in Caraballeda, La Guaira state, as they strive to reach Fabio, a nine-year-old boy trapped beneath the debris of a 12-story building since a devastating double earthquake hit northern Venezuela on June 24.

Rescuers estimate that Fabio is only about six meters away, but progress is painstakingly slow. The building's structure is so compromised that the team has had to use wooden supports before continuing their drilling efforts.

The official rescue mission began at 11:00 PM local time on Wednesday, with specialists from El Salvador, Argentina, and Spain working alongside Venezuelan Civil Protection personnel. Rescuers have admitted that "this could take some time."

On Friday, Spanish teams deployed drones equipped with thermal technology and search dogs to verify if Fabio is still alive, according to reports from EFE at the scene.

Both the family and rescuers remain hopeful. Fabio's grandmother, Rebeca, told EFE that last Sunday, Fabio "responded to calls with a whistle," and on Friday morning, "they heard noises like banging" coming from inside the rubble.

Rebeca also shared that before the emergency teams arrived, she and her family had been digging through the building's remains by themselves for days.

The boy's father waits anxiously for the rescue. A member of the Venezuelan Army told EFE that it's suspected Fabio might be near the lifeless body of his mother, though a rescuer did not rule out the possibility that at least six other people could be alive in that same section of the collapsed building.

Rescuers working on-site described the young boy with a phrase that captures the spirit of the operation: "Fabio is 9 years old and he is a champion."

Fabio's rescue effort follows what many are already calling a miracle: the extraction of 43-year-old security guard Hernán Gil, who was pulled out alive on Thursday after being buried for eight days under more than 140 tons of debris at the Galerías Playa Grande shopping center in Catia La Mar.

During his entrapment, Hernán was hydrated with serum delivered through a syringe via a tube. The operation took over 72 hours and involved more than 100 rescuers from seven countries.

This successful rescue keeps the spirits of the international brigades high, although rescuers caution that the chances of finding more survivors diminish as time passes.

As of Friday, 13 people have been rescued alive from the rubble since the earthquakes occurred.

The double earthquake, registering magnitudes of 7.2 and 7.5, that struck northern Venezuela on June 24, is the deadliest the country has experienced in the past century.

The official toll by the end of Friday stands at at least 2,595 dead and over 12,400 injured, while the UN estimates that up to 68,000 people remain missing.