Survivor pulled from rubble eight days after Venezuela earthquakes
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Survivor pulled from rubble eight days after Venezuela earthquakes
Venezuelan security guard pulled alive from earthquake basement rubble after 8 days
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ByNicole Kolster, BBC Mundo contributor in Catia La Mar and Vanessa Buschschlüter, Latin America online editorPublished2 July 2026, 12:31 BSTUpdated 38 minutes agoA man has been rescued alive after being trapped for eight days in the rubble of a building that collapsed after twin earthquakes in Venezuela.
Emergency workers managed to free Hernán Gil more than 100 hours after they had first located him under 140 tonnes of rubble. A Chilean firefighter had earlier described the rescue operation as "without doubt the most complex and technically difficult which I've had to tackle". Almost 2,300 people are confirmed to have died in the quakes which hit Venezuela on 24 June, and tens of thousands are still missing.
Image source, Federico PARRA / AFP via Getty ImagesAllan Madrigal, a paramedic with the Costa Rican Red Cross, told journalists at the site that Gil had "emerged just perfect" from the ordeal. Madrigal is the rescuer who heard Gil's faint cries for help emerging from the rubble on Sunday. "It was an emotional moment," he recalled, explaining that at first he had not trusted his own ears and asked a colleague to confirm that he "wasn't just imagining it".
From that moment on, rescuers raced to try and dig the security guard out. Gil had been on duty in a small concrete booth in the basement of the parking lot adjacent to the Galerias Playa Grande mall in Catia La Mar when the twin quakes struck.
How 📺 PBS NewsHour Covers It
Independent journalism takes investment Right now, yours goes twice as far. Give now to help PBS News start our new fiscal year strong. Close Popup PBS News By — Fernanda Pesce, Associated Press Fernanda Pesce, Associated Press Juan Pablo Arraez, Associated Press Juan Pablo Arraez, Associated Press CATIA LA MAR, Venezuela (AP) — Rescuers pulled a 43-year-old security guard alive from a collapsed basement early Thursday, ending a grueling days-long operation that became a symbol of hope after the devastation of twin earthquakes that struck Venezuela eight days earlier.
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