Venezuelan Girl Survived 32 Hours Under Earthquake Rubble by Eating Ketchup and Cheese
A young Venezuelan girl named Fabiana endured more than 32 hours trapped beneath the ruins of a collapsed residential building after two powerful earthquakes struck Venezuela in June, according to BBC News. Her remarkable survival story has captured international attention, highlighting both the extraordinary resilience of a child and the devastating impact the tremors had on the country.
Fabiana was inside a ten-storey residential building when the earthquakes hit, causing the structure to collapse and leaving her buried under the rubble. With rescue teams working to locate survivors in the aftermath of the disaster, Fabiana found herself alone in the darkness, waiting and hoping to be found.
To keep herself going during the agonizing wait, Fabiana resorted to eating whatever she could find around her in the debris. According to BBC News, the young girl sustained herself by consuming ketchup and cheese — modest scraps that nonetheless gave her the energy and perhaps the mental strength to hold on until rescuers could reach her.
Her ordeal lasted for 32 hours before she was finally pulled free from the wreckage. The story of how she survived, particularly her account of eating ketchup and cheese while trapped, quickly became one of the most memorable and poignant details to emerge from the disaster.
The earthquakes that struck Venezuela in June caused widespread destruction, with the collapse of the ten-storey building serving as a stark example of the damage inflicted on residential communities. Such multi-storey structures, home to many families, proved devastatingly vulnerable when the ground began to shake.
Fabiana’s survival is a testament to the human will to endure even in the most desperate of circumstances. Children, in particular, often face unique dangers in disaster scenarios, and her ability to remain calm enough to find and consume food while surrounded by rubble speaks to an incredible inner strength.
Rescue operations following major earthquakes are always a race against time. Survivors trapped under debris face risks not only from their injuries but also from dehydration, lack of food, and the psychological toll of isolation and fear. The fact that Fabiana managed to locate anything edible at all in the chaos of the collapsed building was fortunate, and those small amounts of food may well have played a critical role in keeping her alive long enough to be rescued.
BBC News reported on Fabiana’s account of her experience, and her words — simple yet deeply affecting — painted a vivid picture of what those 32 hours must have felt like for a young child alone in the rubble. Her story has resonated with people around the world, serving as both a human-interest moment within a broader tragedy and a reminder of the unpredictable nature of natural disasters.
Venezuela has faced numerous challenges in recent years, and the earthquakes in June added yet another layer of hardship for communities already under significant strain. As recovery efforts continue, stories like Fabiana’s provide a rare note of hope amid the grief and destruction that natural disasters inevitably leave behind.
Source: BBC News
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