A 43-year-old security guard is alive after a grueling eight-day rescue operation in Venezuela. Hernán Alberto Gil Flores was extracted early Thursday from the basement of a collapsed shopping center in La Guaira.
Gil Flores was trapped when twin earthquakes, registering magnitudes of 7.2 and 7.5, struck on June 24. His small security cabin held, shielding him from debris and creating a vital air pocket.
A specialized team from the Costa Rican Red Cross first detected signs of life on Sunday. Rescuers navigated unstable structures and aftershocks, sustaining him with water and nutrients through a narrow shaft.
"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 Costa Rican rescuer Minyar Collado. "We were never going to leave him here."
His wife, Gusbimar González, described days of despair before learning her husband was alive. The couple has two children. The international rescue effort involved teams from Chile, the United States, Portugal, Mexico, Costa Rica, El Salvador, and Venezuela.
The twin earthquakes killed more than 2,200 people, injured over 11,000, and left La Guaira as the hardest-hit region in Venezuela.