Man Miraculously Rescued 8 Days After Devastating Venezuela Quakes

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In a remarkable operation described as “miraculous,” rescue teams successfully freed a man trapped beneath a collapsed nine-story building in Venezuela, a full eight days after devastating earthquakes ravaged the nation.

Hernán Alberto Gil Flores spent over a week pinned beneath 29 feet of concrete and debris from a destroyed shopping mall parking structure in La Guaira. He was finally extracted on Thursday, marking the culmination of a painstaking, multi-day effort coordinated by domestic and international emergency response teams.

Gil, a security guard at the mall in his 40s, emerged in surprisingly “good condition” following his harrowing eight-day ordeal beneath the collapsed structure, according to statements from the Chilean fire brigade aiding in the effort.

The complex extraction process took upwards of 70 hours, the fire brigade noted, confirming that Gil has since been transported to a local medical center for comprehensive evaluation.

“Fortunately, once we received Mr. Hernan in the ambulance, he was stable,” remarked Luis Rodríguez, a Venezuelan Red Cross paramedic who participated in the rescue, speaking to Reuters at the site. “During the whole ride he was conscious, focused and collaborating, and all of his vital signs were within normal.”

Speaking to CNN just moments before her husband was pulled from the wreckage, Gusvimar Gonzales described enduring “days of great sorrow,” fearing she had lost him in the disaster. “But once I found out that he was alive I saw a ray of sunshine,” she expressed. “He was holding up like a hero.”

She happily noted that his children were eagerly awaiting his return home.

Video footage captured the incredible moment on Wednesday when rescuers first established visual contact with Gil, using a specialized search camera snaked deep into the building's shattered basement.

In a clip released by the Chile Fire Department, the trapped man’s fingers can be seen weakly waving through a narrow opening amid the crushed concrete and twisted metal.

Emergency personnel reported that they had been communicating constantly with Gil prior to his release, providing him with essential sustenance and medication by passing fluids through a flexible hose and syringe.

Subsequent video from Thursday depicts Gil’s head and upper torso emerging from the debris field. He is seen wearing a protective mask, with noticeable redness in one eye.

The Chilean Fire Department characterized the rescue as “highly complex.” The structural integrity of the collapsed building remained precarious, forcing rescue teams to navigate the constant threat of falling debris.

Sebastián Mocorquer of the United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination team told CNN on Thursday that locating survivors seven days post-earthquake means “only miraculous rescues have been achieved.” Emergency specialists generally refer to a three-day “golden window” for rescues, beyond which the probability of survival plummets drastically without access to hydration.

Despite it being eight days since the initial tremors, acting President Delcy Rodríguez affirmed that comprehensive search and rescue operations will persist.

Teams were initially notified of a potential survivor beneath the Galerias Playa Grande shopping center on Sunday, per the Costa Rican Red Cross. The presence of a living person was subsequently verified using advanced radar sonar and acoustic detection technology, according to the Chilean fire crew.

For three agonizing days, a coalition of specialists from roughly half a dozen nations labored to carve a safe extraction route through the unstable wreckage, all while maintaining Gil's life support.

Footage shared online by El Salvador President Nayib Bukele highlighted a rescuer communicating with Gil, utilizing a tube to supply him with an orange-colored liquid—likely an electrolyte solution—as final preparations for his extraction were made.

“Are you hurt?” a rescuer is heard asking in the video. “No, I’m not hurt. I’m just uncomfortable because of the rocks,” Gil responded.

President Bukele noted the extreme difficulty of the operation, explaining that the initial access tunnels excavated by teams had suffered multiple partial 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,” Bukele detailed.

Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodríguez praised the successful rescue on Thursday, stating: “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 municipality of La Guaira, where Gil was trapped, sustained some of the most severe damage as one of the hardest-hit parts of the country following the twin seismic events. CNN reporters on the ground observed desperate citizens using pickaxes, shovels, and even their bare hands to dig through ruined high-rises, struggling against a backdrop where fuel and resources are in short supply, an ironic reality given Venezuela’s vast petroleum reserves.

On Wednesday, National Assembly President Jorge Rodríguez—brother to the acting president—reported that the official death toll had reached at least 2,295, marking an increase of roughly 350 fatalities from the previous day. However, the true human cost is widely expected to be significantly higher.

A forensic pathologist operating in La Guaira, speaking on the condition of anonymity due to fear of government reprisal, told CNN that the temporary morgue facility where she is stationed is processing approximately 400 bodies daily.

This story has been updated to reflect recent developments.

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