Key facts
- Hernán Alberto Gil Flores, a 43-year-old security guard, was rescued from a collapsed shopping center basement in La Guaira, Venezuela.
- He was trapped for eight days following 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes that struck the region.
- Gil Flores survived in a pocket of air within his workstation cabin, shielded by the structure.
- International rescue teams, including specialists from Chile, the US, Portugal, Mexico, and Costa Rica, collaborated on the extraction.
- The rescue operation involved navigating unstable debris, torrential rain, and aftershocks, with rescuers maintaining contact via camera and passing sustenance.
- The earthquakes killed nearly 2,200 people, injured over 11,000, and left tens of thousands missing.
A 43-year-old security guard, Hernán Alberto Gil Flores, has been rescued from the collapsed basement of the Galerías Playa Grande shopping center in La Guaira, Venezuela, eight days after powerful earthquakes struck the region. Gil Flores survived by remaining in a pocket of air within his small security cabin, which shielded him from the crushing debris when the 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude tremors hit.
Specialized international rescue teams, including members from the Costa Rican Red Cross, Chilean firefighters, and teams from the US, Portugal, and Mexico, worked for approximately 70 hours to extract Gil Flores. They navigated highly unstable conditions, torrential rain, and persistent aftershocks, using a telescopic camera to maintain contact and passing water and liquid nutrients through a narrow shaft to keep him hydrated.
The devastating earthquakes killed nearly 2,200 people, injured over 11,000, and left tens of thousands missing. While there have been a few remarkable rescues, hopes of finding more survivors are diminishing, with many collapsed buildings marked as searched with no signs of life. The focus is now shifting to providing aid and shelter for the displaced, as food and water become scarce, and concerns rise over potential disease outbreaks.