FAIRFAX CITY, VA – Virginia Task Force 1, an urban search and rescue unit, was part of multiple rescues in Venezuela this weekend after having arrived in the country on Friday.
Virginia Task Force 1, which is sponsored by the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department, was activated to help with rescue and recovery efforts after Venezuela suffered 2 powerful earthquakes on Wednesday.
On Saturday, members of VA Task Force 1, along with local firefighters, helped pull a mother and a 9-month-old baby from the rubble of a collapsed building in northern Venezuela, the team announced.
In another location, the task force reports keeping contact with a trapped person for 12 hours while they orchestrated a complex extraction that was finally completed on Sunday.
The U.S. State Department commended their efforts in a social media post on Sunday.
On Monday morning, the crew highlighted the work of their rescue dogs, which help them sniff out trapped people.
Other American rescue personnel are in Venezuela, including members of U.S. Marine Corps helicopter crews.
Venezuela was rocked by back-to-back earthquakes on Wednesday, one of a magnitude of 7.1, and one reaching 7.5. As of Sunday, the resulting death toll had exceeded 1,400, according to multiple reports.
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