Man pulled from rubble in ‘miraculous’ rescue 8 days after devastating Venezuela earthquakes

By Helen Regan, Osmary Hernandez, Ivonne Valdes, Chandler Thornton, Diego Mendoza, CNN

La Guaira, Venezuela (CNN) — Sigue nuestra cobertura en español

Rescuers pulled a man from under the rubble of a nine-story building in Venezuela in a “miraculous” operation eight days after the devastating earthquakes that hit the country.

Hernán Alberto Gil Flores, who was buried under 29 feet of wreckage from a collapsed shopping mall parking lot in La Guaira, was freed on Thursday amid a delicate days-long effort by local and international rescue teams.

Gil, who is in his 40s and worked as a security guard at the mall, is in “good condition” after being rescued from the rubble of the collapsed building eight days after Venezuela’s twin earthquakes, according to Chile’s fire brigade.

It took 70 hours to rescue him, the fire brigade said in a statement, adding that he has been transferred to a medical facility.

“Fortunately, once we received Mr. Hernan in the ambulance, he was stable,” Venezuelan Red Cross paramedic Luis Rodríguez, who assisted with the rescue, told Reuters news from the scene. “During the whole ride he was conscious, focused and collaborating, and all of his vital signs were within normal.”

Gil’s wife, Gusvimar Gonzales, told CNN moments before the successful rescue that she had experienced “days of great sorrow” following the earthquakes as she thought he might be dead. “But once I found out that he was alive I saw a ray of sunshine,” she said. “He was holding up like a hero.”

She added that his kids are waiting for him at home.

Video shows the moment rescuers first made visual contact with Gil via a search camera fed into the collapsed basement of the building on Wednesday.

The man’s fingers could be seen waving though a small gap between layers of thick concrete and debris, in the video posted by the Chile Fire Department.

Emergency crews said they had been communicating with Gil and giving him water, food and medication, with fluids passed to him via a hose and syringe.

Video posted on Thursday shows Gil’s head and shoulders half emerged from the rubble. He can be seen wearing a mask and with a bloodshot eye.

The Chile Fire Department described the rescue operation as “highly complex” as the building remained unstable and teams had to contend with falling debris.

Sebastián Mocorquer, from the United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination team, told CNN on Thursday that “only miraculous rescues have been achieved” seven days after an earthquake. The so-called “golden window” for finding survivors is usually a three-day period after which the chances of survival without a water source diminishes rapidly.

Rescuers were first alerted that someone may still be alive under the rubble of the Galerias Playa Grande shopping mall on Sunday, according to the Costa Rican Red Cross. Teams were able to confirm the presence of a survivor using radar sonar and sound detection equipment, the Chile Fire Department said.

For three days, rescuers and specialists from about half a dozen countries have worked to clear a safe passage through the rubble and provide Gil with life support.

Video shared by El Salvador President Nayib Bukele shows a rescuer talking with Gil, and using a hose to deliver him an orange liquid –– potentially an electrolyte drink –– as teams prepared to rescue him.

“Are you hurt?” the rescuer is heard asking him. “No, I’m not hurt. I’m just uncomfortable because of the rocks,” he replies.

Bukele said the operation to try to free him had been difficult as the tunnel rescuers had excavated had suffered several collapses.

“Rescue teams from several countries have been working together tirelessly to stabilize the tunnel, shoring it up, reinforcing it and isolating it, but it has not been possible to hold it up,” he said.

Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodríguez heralded the rescue on Thursday, saying: “Today we celebrate the life of Hernán Gil. Thank you to the national and international rescue workers who gave their bodies, their time, and their souls to this mission.”

The coastal city of La Guaira, where Gil was found, was one of the hardest-hit parts of the country from the two massive earthquakes, and rescue operations remain ongoing. CNN has seen people using pickaxes, shovels and their bare hands to break apart the collapsed high-rise apartment buildings, as fuel and resources are in short supply despite Venezuela’s huge oil reserves.

On Wednesday, National Assembly President Jorge Rodríguez – the acting president’s brother – announced that at least 2,295 had died, an increase of about 350 from the day before. But the casualty figure is believed to be much larger.

One forensic pathologist, who asked to remain anonymous due to her fear of retaliation, told CNN the makeshift morgue where she works in La Guaira is processing around 400 bodies a day.

This story has been updated with additional developments.

CNN’s Gonzalo Zegarra and Magdalena Vitores Moreno contributed to this report.

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