Two teenage brothers endured an unimaginable 26-day ordeal as they dug through the ruins of their collapsed home in Venezuela, desperately searching for their missing family members after a powerful earthquake destroyed their apartment building.
Winder Delfín, 17, and his younger brother Deivi, 15, refused to leave the wreckage of their former home in La Guaira, one of the regions hardest hit by the disaster.
Armed with whatever tools they could find — including a kitchen knife — the brothers worked through layers of concrete and debris in a heartbreaking attempt to recover their loved ones.
Family Home Collapses While Brothers Were Away
The tragedy unfolded on June 24 when a major earthquake struck Venezuela’s coastal region.
The brothers had been returning home from a waterpark when they witnessed their 12-story public housing building collapse.
Inside the first-floor apartment were their grandmother Carmen, 69, their mother Yusmani, 35, and their younger brother Moissés, 10.
Unable to accept that their family members were trapped beneath the destruction, Winder and Deivi joined forces with their father, Deivid Delfín, 44, and stepfather, Giovanni Berroterán, 50, to begin the dangerous rescue effort.
Teenagers Use Bare Hands and Simple Tools to Search for Loved Ones
For nearly a month, the family battled through the ruins using a shovel, pickaxe, sledgehammer, jackhammer, saw and even a kitchen knife to break through the collapsed structure.
The exhausting search pushed the teenagers beyond childhood. Deivi, reflecting on the experience, told The New York Times: “I’m no longer a boy.”
The brothers continued digging despite the emotional pain and physical exhaustion, determined to find answers about the fate of their family.
Bible and Clothing Discovery Led to Heartbreaking Find
On the 24th day of searching, Deivi finally managed to create an opening into what remained of the apartment’s living room.
Inside the rubble, he discovered his younger brother’s shorts and his mother’s Bible — signs that their loved ones had been trapped in the area.
Hours later, the brothers located the remains of their grandmother.
The search continued for another day before they finally found their mother, Yusmani, and their 10-year-old brother Moissés in the kitchen area of the destroyed apartment.
Earthquake Leaves Thousands Homeless Across Venezuela
The devastating earthquakes caused widespread destruction across Venezuela, with government officials reporting that 856 buildings were damaged and 190 completely collapsed.
The death toll rose to 5,069, while the number of injured remained at 16,740, according to authorities.
The disaster also left thousands of residents displaced, forcing many survivors to seek shelter in schools, parks, sidewalks, plazas and other public areas.
Survivors Face Severe Housing and Infrastructure Crisis
The destruction created a major humanitarian challenge, particularly in areas such as La Guaira where residents faced shortages of essential services, including water.
Many displaced families were forced to create temporary solutions for basic needs such as washing and sanitation while waiting for assistance.
The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction estimated that direct physical damage to homes and infrastructure reached approximately $37 billion, highlighting the enormous scale of the catastrophe.
Teen Brothers’ Tragedy Becomes Symbol of Earthquake’s Human Cost
The painful journey of Winder and Deivi has become one of the most emotional stories to emerge from Venezuela’s earthquake disaster.
Their determination to recover their family members, despite unimaginable loss and difficult conditions, revealed the devastating personal impact behind the disaster’s statistics.
For the two brothers, the collapse of their home marked the end of their childhood and left them carrying the memory of a family they fought for weeks to find.
