Man ‘miraculously’ rescued from rubble 8 days after devastating Venezuelan earthquake

Nuestra Covertura in Spanish

La Guaira, Venezuela —

Eight days after a devastating earthquake struck Venezuela, rescuers pulled a man out from under the rubble of a nine-storey building in a “miraculous” operation.

Hernán Alberto Gil Flores, 44, who was buried under eight meters of debris when a shopping mall parking lot collapsed in La Guaira, was freed on Thursday after days of delicate efforts by local and international rescue teams.

Chile’s fire brigade said Gil, who worked as a security guard at a shopping mall, was in “good condition” after being rescued from the rubble of a collapsed building eight days after Venezuela’s second earthquake.

The fire brigade said in a statement that it took 70 hours to rescue the man, adding that he was taken to a medical facility.

“Fortunately, we took Hernán to the ambulance and he was in stable condition,” Luis Rodríguez, a Venezuelan Red Cross paramedic who helped rescue him, told Reuters from the scene. “During the entire ride, he was conscious, focused, and cooperative, and his vital signs were all within normal limits.”

Gil’s wife, Gusvimar Gonzalez, told CNN shortly before the successful rescue that she experienced “days of great sadness” after the quake, believing Gil had died. “But once I found out he was alive, there was a ray of sunshine,” she said. “He held on like a hero.”

She added that the children were waiting for him at home.

Video shows the moment rescue workers first made visual contact with Gill through a search camera sent into the basement of the collapsed building on Wednesday.

A video posted by Chile’s fire department showed the man’s fingers shaking in a small gap between a thick layer of concrete and rubble.

Paramedics said they were in contact with Gill and were giving him water, food and medicine via a hose and syringe.

A video posted Thursday shows half of Gill’s head and shoulders emerging from the rubble. He is seen wearing a mask and with bloodshot eyes.

Chile’s fire department said the rescue operation was “very complicated” as the building remained unstable and teams had to contend with falling debris.

Seven days after the earthquake, “nothing but miraculous rescues have been achieved,” Sebastien Mokolkel, head of the United Nations Disaster Assessment Coordination Team, told CNN on Thursday. The so-called “golden window” for finding survivors is usually three days, after which the chances of survival rapidly decrease without a water source.

The Costa Rican Red Cross said rescuers were alerted on Sunday that someone might still be alive under the rubble of the Galerias Playa Grande shopping mall. Chile’s fire department said its team was able to identify survivors using radar sonar and acoustic detection equipment.