Aunt of Venezuelan boy pulled from rubble tells BBC she will give him 'mother's warmth'

The aunt of two-year-old Kleiber Moran, who was rescued after six days under rubble in Venezuela, has told the BBC of her elation at being reunited with her nephew and her hopes that his parents might still be found. Kleiber was pulled from the rubble of his home in Venezuela's northern La Guaira state by Jordanian rescuers early on Tuesday.

Andreína Sarmiento, 23, said she would "take care of Kleiber with a mother's warmth until my sister appears, which is what we long for." Sitting at Kleiber's bedside in a hospital in Caracas, holding his hand, she admitted she was not a mother and prayed for strength. "It hurts me a lot because my sister always used to tell me that he is my son, and now it's like she's handing him over to me and saying 'this is your son, he is your responsibility,'" she said.

When a friend called to tell her of Kleiber's rescue, she fell to the floor, screaming and crying, before rushing to meet him. She said British rescuers had also tried to reach him before the Jordanian team succeeded. Upon reunion, Kleiber looked at her and immediately said "she Auntie."

Andreína said Kleiber was in a state of shock, screaming endlessly when he arrived at the hospital, but he slept through the night and stabilized by Wednesday. "Today he's giving me little kisses, he talks to me, he tells me where it hurts," she said. Kleiber lay next to her wrapped in a Spiderman blanket, surrounded by toys, pushing a small car around the bed. He shared a ward with other child survivors of the earthquakes.

"He doesn't even have a single fracture. Everything is very good. All he has are some scratches here on his arms and on his legs, but nothing more," Andreína told the BBC with a broad smile. But despite her joy, she said "it hurts because I can't find my sister." She was extremely close to her 31-year-old sister Ana Luz, speaking daily via video calls. "Wherever she went, her son went too. Whatever Kleiber wanted, she would please him," Andreína recalled.

She said she was certain her sister had been next to Kleiber in the rubble. As she sat with her nephew, search and rescue efforts continued. Official death toll stands at 2,295, expected to rise significantly. Tens of thousands are missing, and the UN is procuring 10,000 body bags for the country.

Andreína has not lost hope that Kleiber's parents will be rescued. "Just as they found my nephew, I have faith that they are going to find my sister and my brother-in-law," she said. Looking affectionately at Kleiber, she added, "When this child grows up, God willing, this will be his story."