A 44-year-old Venezuelan security guard has been pulled alive from beneath more than eight metres of debris in what rescuers are calling a miraculous operation — eight days after two powerful earthquakes struck the country's northern coast, far beyond the window in which survivors are typically found.
Hernán Alberto Gil Flores was freed on Thursday from the collapsed ruins of the Galerías Playa Grande shopping centre in the coastal town of La Guaira, in a painstaking, three-day international effort that drew specialists from Chile, the United States, Portugal, Mexico, Costa Rica and El Salvador. He is reported to be in good condition and has been transferred to a medical facility.
Trapped beneath a collapsed mall for eight days
Gil Flores was on duty as a security guard in a small cabin in the basement of the shopping centre when two earthquakes — measuring 7.2 and 7.7 in magnitude — struck Venezuela's north coast less than a minute apart on 24 June. As the building collapsed around him, his security cabin created a small but critical pocket of space and air that is now credited with keeping him alive.
It was not until 29 June — five days after the quakes — that workers from the Costa Rican Red Cross detected signs of life beneath the rubble. Formal rescue operations began the following day. Radar sonar and sound detection equipment were used to confirm a survivor was present before teams began the gruelling task of tunnelling through the wreckage.
Throughout the ordeal, rescuers maintained visual contact with Gil Flores using a telescopic camera, and passed more than 10 litres of water and liquid nutrients to him through a narrow hose fed into the debris. He was also given medication via a hose and syringe. Despite having spent more than a week in the darkness beneath tonnes of concrete, reports indicate he remained in remarkably high spirits — at one point reportedly drawing to pass the time, and telling rescue workers he wanted to walk out on his own rather than be carried on a stretcher.
An 'extremely complex and dangerous' operation
Vincenzo Borgna, the lead medic from the Chilean urban search and rescue team that coordinated the effort, described conditions on the ground as extraordinarily hazardous. He likened the structural situation to "a sand castle with a building on top — you take a rock away, and it'll fall."
Rescuers had to contend with a severely unstable structure, persistent aftershocks and torrential rain throughout the three-day mission. It is understood that engineering and technical teams from the United States assessed the operation as too risky to proceed with at one stage, and initial strategies had to be abandoned after crews came within just 50 centimetres of Gil Flores before being forced to reconsider their approach entirely.
Chile's fire brigade, which played a central role in the rescue, said the operation took 70 hours from the point formal efforts began. The brigade described it as "highly complex," noting the constant threat of falling debris as teams worked to free the trapped man.
A representative from the United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination team noted that surviving beyond seven days under rubble enters the realm of the extraordinary. The so-called "golden window" for finding earthquake survivors is generally considered to be the first three days, after which the chances of survival without access to water diminish rapidly. "Only miraculous rescues have been achieved" at that point, the UN official said.
A family's agonising wait — and an emotional reunion
Gil Flores's wife, Gusbimar González, said the days before she learned her husband was alive were filled with despair. The couple have two children, aged eight and 10.
"When I learned he was alive, I saw a ray of light in the darkness," she said, adding that he had been "holding up like a hero." She confirmed their children were at home waiting for him.
In a poignant detail shared by a Costa Rican Red Cross rescuer, Gil Flores had initially asked crews not to tell his wife he was alive — in case he did not make it out. "We were never going to leave him here," the rescuer said.
Video captured in the hours before his rescue showed Gil Flores's fingers visible through a narrow gap in the concrete, waving toward the camera. Later footage showed him with his head and shoulders partially emerged from the debris, wearing a mask, with one visibly bloodshot eye.
Venezuela's acting president applauded the rescue on social media, celebrating the outcome as a moment of national relief following the catastrophic twin earthquakes, which have caused widespread destruction across the country's northern coast.
Australia has pledged $2 million toward Venezuela's earthquake recovery effort as the country continues to assess the full scale of the damage and search for any remaining survivors.
