Rescue After 8 Days

Hernán Alberto Gil Flores. A 43-year-old security guard. Was rescued from the collapsed basement of the Galerías Playa Grande shopping centre in La Guaira after being trapped for eight days; he was saved due to a pocket of air in his workstation cabin following the 7.2- and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes that struck last week.

Earthquake Impact

The back-to-back quakes killed nearly 2,200 people, injured over 11,000, and left tens of thousands missing. Gil Flores, who worked night shifts at the shopping centre, was inside his small security cabin when the first tremor hit. His cabin protected him from debris and provided vital air.

International Efforts

A specialized team from the Costa Rican Red Cross detected signs of life and established contact with Gil Flores on Sunday. Minyar Collado, a team member, said Gil Flores initially asked them not to tell his wife he was alive in case he didn’t survive. However, four days later, rescuers from around the world cheered as they carried him to safety in an ambulance.

Gil Flores’s wife, Gusbimar González, said hearing he was alive brought hope. “I saw a ray of light in the darkness,” she said. The rescue was coordinated by Chilean firefighters, who worked with teams from the US, Portugal, and Mexico. Rescuers worked through unstable conditions, torrential rain, and aftershocks to reach him.

During the final three days of the extraction, rescuers used a telescopic camera to maintain contact and provided water and nutrients through a narrow shaft. María Paz Campos, a veteran firefighter from Chile, guided Gil Flores through the operation and kept him calm. In a video before the rescue, Gil Flores was seen drawing to pass the time. Campos instructed him to wear protective goggles to shield against falling particles.

Despite the success, hopes of finding more survivors are fading. However, families of the trapped remain hopeful. Dora Bello, 49, is searching for her 42-year-old nephew, Eduardo José Rosal Bello, who was inside a tower block when it collapsed. “We need action. We need them to come and do something because there is life inside,” she said.

Russ Gauden, the national coordinator for the UK’s International Search and Rescue team, noted that more survivors might still be found. “The population in this part of the world are very, very strong: humble, proud people. They’re survivors,” he said. The survival window, typically 96 to 130 hours, could be extended in this region.

With many now homeless and food and water scarce, the World Food Programme has appealed for $50m to feed 500,000 people for three months. Preliminary satellite data suggests more than 58,000 buildings were damaged or destroyed, exceeding official estimates.