Miracle as man pulled from rubble eight days after Venezuela earthquakes
A man has been pulled alive from the rubble of a collapsed building after spending eight days trapped following the devastating twin earthquakes in Venezuela.
Rescuers freed Hernán Gil more than 100 hours after they first made contact with him beneath an estimated 140 tonnes of debris.
The dramatic rescue came after an international effort involving emergency crews from Venezuela, Chile, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Mexico, Portugal and the United States.
Mexican rescue workers surround Halley, the dog which helped find Hernan Gil. Pic: Federico PARRA / AFP via Getty Images
A Chilean firefighter involved in the operation described it as ‘without doubt the most complex and technically difficult’ rescue he had ever worked on.
The twin earthquakes struck Venezuela on June 24, killing almost 2,300 people, while tens of thousands remain unaccounted for.
Emergency teams spent days carefully digging through the unstable wreckage to reach Gil, with several access tunnels collapsing during the operation.
A Portuguese rescue worker enters the garage of the building from which Hernan Gil was rescued. Pic: Federico PARRA / AFP via Getty Images
After finally establishing visual contact, rescuers used a small camera to monitor his condition.
Footage showed Gil wearing a protective face mask that had been passed to him through a narrow opening to shield him from dust and debris. He was also given goggles to protect his eyes while crews continued working around him.
Ricardo Arias of the Costa Rican Red Cross said Gil remained in a stable condition throughout the rescue, while chatting with local journalist Joan Camargo.
Hernan Gil, a survivor of Venezuela’s twin earthquakes, is rushed into an ambulance by members of international rescue teams. Pic: Federico PARRA / AFP via Getty Images
He said emergency workers were able to provide him with water and connect him to an intravenous drip while he remained trapped.
Arias added that Gil appeared to have escaped serious injuries despite the scale of the collapse.
‘He told us he doesn’t even have a crushed nail,’ Arias said. ‘He is fine.’
An international rescue team carries Hernan Gil, a survivor of Venezuela’s twin earthquakes, on a stretcher. Pic: Federico PARRA / AFP via Getty Images
Marco Antonio Franco of the Mexican Red Cross described Gil as being in remarkably good spirits throughout the ordeal.
He told Mexican news site Milenio that the survivor even requested specific flavours of hydration drinks while waiting to be rescued.
‘He himself drives us on, telling us to carry on,’ Franco said.
An international rescue team assists a survivor of Venezuela’s twin earthquakes in Catia La Mar. Pic: Federico PARRA / AFP via Getty Images
According to rescuers, Gil kept their spirits up by chatting about his family and encouraging those working to free him.
Gil had been working inside a small concrete booth in the basement car park beside the Galerias Playa Grande shopping centre in Catia La Mar when the earthquakes struck.
Rescuers believe the structure created a protective shell around him, shielding him from the enormous weight of the rubble that collapsed around him and ultimately helping him survive the eight-day ordeal.
