72-year-old rescued 13 days after Ecuador quake

A 72-year-old man has been rescued by Venezuelan relief workers 13 days after a devastating earthquake shook Ecuador's northern coast, Venezuela announced Saturday.

The miraculous rescue happened in the western Ecuadorian province of Manabi on Friday, when a Venezuelan rescue mission from the Humanitarian Task Force "Liberator Simon Bolivar" inspected the danger zone in Jaramijo Canton, according to Venezuela's embassy in Quito.

After being alerted by sounds coming from a partially collapsed building, the rescue workers immediately entered and found the survivor trapped between the walls of a room.

The man, identified as Manuel Vasquez, showed signs of chronic kidney failure. He was also dehydrated and disoriented, and was taken to a nearby hospital.

Until now, 133 people have been rescued after the 7.8-magnitude earthquake on April 16, which has left at least 660 people dead, 4,605 injured, 32 people missing and 22,421 people displaced and housed in shelters, Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa said Saturday.

The Venezuelan Embassy in Ecuador said the rescue team, after 13 days, has carried out tasks in two of the country's provinces and has medically treated 7,712 people and inspected 2,616 building structures.

The Venezuelan team was the first to arrive in Ecuador to help after the terrible tragedy, the embassy added.

Source: XINHUA