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🇦🇺 Australia /Disasters & Emergencies

Venezuela earthquake survivor pulled from rubble after eight days

From ABC Australia · () English

Summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News From a news agency Outcome reported
  • A 43-year-old man, Hernan Alberto Gil Flores, was rescued from a collapsed shopping center basement eight days after earthquakes struck Venezuela.
  • Flores survived in a small cabin that shielded him, providing a pocket of air, and was kept hydrated by rescuers.
  • The complex rescue operation involved international teams navigating unstable conditions, rain, and aftershocks.

Hernan Alberto Gil Flores, a 43-year-old security guard, has been miraculously rescued from the basement of a collapsed shopping center in Venezuela, eight days after powerful earthquakes devastated the region. Flores was on a night shift at the Galerías Playa Grande in La Guaira when two consecutive earthquakes, measuring 7.2 and 7.6 magnitudes, struck, causing the building to collapse.

We were never going to leave him here.

— Minyar ColladoA Costa Rican Red Cross worker, speaking before the rescue.

His survival is attributed to the small cabin where he was working in the basement, which remained intact and shielded him from the falling debris, creating a vital pocket of air. Rescue workers from the Costa Rican Red Cross detected signs of life and established contact with Flores on Sunday, initiating an intricate rescue operation.

I need you to keep the goggles on, for the small particles that are falling, to avoid them getting into your eye.

— Maria Paz CamposA Chilean firefighter, instructing Flores during the rescue operation.

Rescuers faced immense challenges, including highly unstable structural conditions, torrential rain, and persistent aftershocks. The operation was coordinated by a Chilean firefighters' urban search and rescue team, with specialized support from the United States, Portugal, and Mexico. For three days, water and liquid nutrients were passed through a narrow shaft to keep Flores hydrated, while a veteran firefighter from Chile, Maria Paz Campos, kept him calm throughout the ordeal.

Just in case he wouldn't make it.

— Hernan Alberto Gil FloresHis request to rescuers not to inform his wife of his situation.

In a poignant moment before his rescue, Flores was seen drawing to pass the time. He had also requested that rescuers not inform his wife, Gusbimar González, "just in case he wouldn't make it." His wife described experiencing days of despair before learning he was alive, seeing it as "a ray of light in the darkness." The couple has two young children. The earthquakes caused widespread destruction, damaging or destroying tens of thousands of buildings and claiming over 2,200 lives in Venezuela, with La Guaira state being the hardest-hit region.

When I learned he was alive, I saw a ray of light in the darkness.

— Gusbimar GonzálezHernan Alberto Gil Flores' wife, describing her reaction to the news of his survival.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by ABC Australia. Summarized and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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