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Catia La Mar: Rescuers 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.<\/p>\n
Hern\u00e1n Alberto Gil Flores emerged to safety atop a stretcher surrounded by helmet-clad rescue workers after being trapped since June 24<\/a> under rubble in the basement of the Galer\u00edas Playa Grande shopping centre in the coastal town in La Guaira.<\/p>\n Rescuers, who initially made contact with him at the weekend, worked for more than 100 hours to free him \u2013 navigating a highly unstable structure, torrential rain and persistent aftershocks to tunnel down to the survivor.<\/p>\n Teams carrying flags from around the world cheered as rescuers carried Gil Flores, wearing an oxygen mask and covered in an orange tarp, through throngs of people to an ambulance.<\/p>\n One Chilean rescuer carrying his stretcher pumped his fist in joy. A group of men in red Costa Rican Red Cross uniforms embraced and laughed in relief. Others broke out into applause.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we found him, he asked us not to tell his wife that he was alive, just in case he wouldn\u2019t make it,\u201d Costa Rican Red Cross rescuer Minyar Collado told the Associated Press, before adding: \u201cWe were never going to leave him here.\u201d<\/p>\n The rescue was considered a small miracle cutting through a week of tragedy<\/a>. By supplying Gil Flores with food and water while they excavated the concrete, rescue teams were able to keep him alive far longer than the 48- to 72-hour threshold most operations give to find survivors in disasters.<\/p>\n Related Article Gil Flores, who worked as a night-shift 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 cabin held ground, shielding him from crushing debris and creating a vital pocket of air.<\/p>\n A specialised team from the Costa Rican Red Cross first detected signs of life and established contact with him on Sunday.<\/p>\n His wife, Gusbimar Gonz\u00e1lez, told the AP that she grappled with despair for days before hearing that rescuers made contact.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I learnt he was alive, I saw a ray of light in the darkness,\u201d she said. The couple has two children, aged eight and 10.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The operation was co-ordinated by an urban search and rescue team of Chilean firefighters, who worked around the clock with specialised teams from the United States, Portugal, Mexico, Costa Rica, El Salvador and Venezuela.<\/p>\n Related Article Acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodr\u00edguez celebrated the rescue on social media at a time that her government has come under fire for what many Venezuelans say has been an inadequate crisis response.<\/p>\n \u201cWe celebrate the greatness of humanity, when it is united for a single purpose: to save another. Thank you to our rescuers and to the support of the international rescuers,\u201d she wrote on a post on X.<\/p>\n Teams used a telescopic camera to help maintain constant contact with Gil Flores, passing water and liquid nutrients through a narrow shaft to keep him hydrated during the final three days of the rescue.<\/p>\n Mar\u00eda Paz Campos, a veteran firefighter from Chile, talked him through the entire operation and kept him calm during the final excruciating hours on Thursday.<\/p>\n In a video published by Chilean firefighters in the hours before the rescue, Gil Flores is seen drawing, seemingly to pass the time. Campos then gently tells him to look at the camera and to wear protective goggles.<\/p>\n \u201cI need you to keep the goggles on, for the small particles that are falling, to avoid them getting into your eye,\u201d Campos told the Venezuelan survivor.<\/p>\n The collapse of the building was triggered by two back-to-back earthquakes on June 24 that registered magnitudes of 7.2 and 7.5, respectively. The shallow, violent tremors damaged or destroyed tens of thousands of buildings across northern Venezuela, killing more than 2200 people, injuring over 11,000 and leaving La Guaira state as the hardest-hit region in the country.<\/p>\n AP<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what\u2019s making headlines around the world. Sign up for our weekly What in the World newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n![\"Rescue](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/aa454c47675a12dc00085c288a949d315bb21284.jpeg\")
Rescue workers carry Hern\u00e1n Alberto Gil Flores Gil after he was pulled from the rubble eight days on from the earthquakes.AP Photo\/Fernando Vergara<\/p>\n![\"Hern\u00e1n](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/0c8a3fdd7ac8dc49dd83e0bc2ab766ab5c073ebf.jpeg\")
Hern\u00e1n Alberto Gil Flores was buried in the June 24 earthquakes.AP Photo\/Fernando Vergara<\/p>\n![\"Rescuers](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/782ef1c97652a5c0ea7a95d67625eeb25dd2ed64.jpeg\")
Rescuers work on top of debris from a damaged building in La Guaira.Getty Images<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/e070b357a3c1fbefab1df603f572d58e3673fcc69b90986597bab5fde96bb35a.gif\")
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