Miracle Rescue: Venezuelan Guard Freed After 7 Days Under Rubble

In a remarkable display of resilience and dedicated rescue work, a 43-year-old security guard, Hernán Gil, has been pulled from beneath 140 tons of debris seven days after a powerful earthquake struck Venezuela. Gil was working in his guard post when a 7-story building collapsed during the magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 tremors that shook the region. Trapped in a subterranean passage, his survival became a race against time for over a hundred rescuers. The operation was fraught with peril, as the immense weight of the rubble and the complex terrain made access extremely difficult. Rescuers, including specialists from Costa Rica, Chile, and the United States, had to adjust their strategies, seeking new entry points while maintaining contact with Gil. They provided him with water and medication, crucial for sustaining him during the prolonged ordeal. The narrowness of the rescue channel meant that heavy machinery could not be used for fear of further collapse, forcing the team to work with painstaking manual labor. Gil's wife remained a constant presence at the site, a testament to the unwavering hope that fueled the rescue mission.

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We are very close to him, but we must ensure that everything is foolproof. We need to get a little closer to be able to rescue him without endangering his life or the lives of the rescuers.