Venezuelan man pulled alive from collapsed basement eight days after earthquakes

An international rescue team pulled a 43-year-old security guard alive from a collapsed basement early on Thursday, ending a gruelling days-long operation that became a symbol of hope after the devastation of twin earthquakes that struck Venezuela eight days earlier.

Hernán Alberto Gil Flores was extracted safely after being trapped since 24 June under the rubble in the basement of the Galerías Playa Grande shopping centre in the coastal town in La Guaira. Rescuers had initially made contact with him over the weekend.

Gil Flores, who worked as a night security guard at the complex, was inside his small security cabin when the first violent tremor struck. While the surrounding concrete structure collapsed around him, his workstation cabin shielded him from crushing debris and created a vital pocket of air.

“When we found him, he asked us not to tell his wife that he was alive, just in case he wouldn’t make it,” said Minyar Collado, a Costa Rican Red Cross rescuer.

A specialised team from the Costa Rican Red Cross first detected signs of life and established contact with Gil Flores on Sunday.

His wife, Gusbimar González, said she had suffered days of despair before rescuers made contact, but that “when I learned he was alive, I saw a ray of light in the darkness”. The couple have two children aged eight and 10.

The operation was coordinated by an urban search and rescue team of Chilean firefighters, who worked around the clock with specialised teams from the US, Portugal and Mexico, among others.