Venezuelan man pulled alive from rubble less than 8 days after twin earthquakes – National
A Venezuelan man has been pulled alive from the rubble of a collapsed basement after being trapped for eight days following an earthquake that hit the country.
43-year-old security guard Hernán Alberto Gil Flores was released safely after being trapped since June 24 in the basement of the Galerías Playa Grande shopping center in the coastal city of La Guaira.
Rescuers first contacted him over the weekend and began an operation to pull him out of the ruins.
Flag-carrying teams from around the world cheered as emergency workers carried Flores, wearing an oxygen mask, on a stretcher covered in orange tarp, past crowds of people to a Red Cross ambulance.
Rescuers visit Hernan Alberto Gil Flores after he was pulled from the rubble eight days after the twin earthquakes struck Catia La Mar, Venezuela, Thursday, July 2, 2026.
AP Photo/Fernando Vergara
A group of men wearing red uniforms from the Costa Rican Red Cross hugged and laughed heartily, while others burst into applause, according to the Associated Press.
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The man was kept alive longer than the 48- to 72-hour limit with most rescue operations seeing survivors thanks to food and water provided by emergency workers as they tried to remove Flores from the ground, it added.
Flores’ survival was due in part to his workhouse, which held its ground as the surrounding concrete collapsed, shielded him from the debris and provided him with a vital air bag.
“When we found him, he asked us not to tell his wife that he was alive, just in case he wouldn’t make it,” Costa Rican Red Cross rescuer Minyar Collado told the Associated Press. “We couldn’t leave him here.”
His wife, Gusbimar González, told the AP that she faced days of despair before learning that rescuers were contacting her husband.
“When I heard that he was alive, I saw a ray of light in the darkness,” he said.
The couple has two children, aged eight and 10.
Mexican Army rescuers search for people trapped in collapsed buildings after an earthquake in La Guaira, Venezuela, Sunday, June 28, 2026.
AP Photo/Matias Delacroix
The operation was coordinated by a search and rescue team of Chilean firefighters, who worked with experts from the US, Portugal, Mexico, Costa Rica, El Salvador and Venezuela, navigating successive earthquakes, heavy rain and unstable infrastructure to save Flores.
María Paz Campos, a Chilean firefighter, spoke to Flores throughout the operation and kept him calm during the last difficult hours on Thursday.
In a video published by Chilean firefighters in the hours before the rescue, Gil Flores can be seen drawing, seemingly passing the time. Campos then gently tells him not to look at the camera and to put on his goggles.
“I need you to keep the glasses, because of the small particles that fall, to avoid them from getting into your eye,” said Campos.
The collapse of the building was caused by two earthquakes measuring 7.2 and 7.5 on the Richter scale, respectively, that shook the country on June 24. The quake damaged thousands of buildings in northern Venezuela, killing at least 2,200 people and injuring 11,000 others.
— via files from The Associated Press
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