Summary 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.
CATIA LA MAR, Venezuela (AP) — Rescuers pulled a 43-year-old security guard alive from a collapsed basement early Thursday, ending a grueling dayslong operation that became a symbol of hope after the devastation of twin earthquakes that struck Venezuela eight days earlier.
Hernán Alberto Gil Flores emerged to safety covered in dust atop a stretcher surrounded by helmet-clad rescue workers after being trapped since June 24 under rubble in the basement of the Galerías Playa Grande shopping center in the coastal town in La Guaira.
Rescuers, who initially made contact with Gil Flores over the weekend, worked more than 100 hours to free him — navigating a highly unstable structure, torrential rain and persistent aftershocks to tunnel down to the survivor.
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 where they methodically checked his vital signs.
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.
“When we found him, he asked us not to tell his wife that he was alive, just in case he wouldn’t make it,” Costa Rican Red Cross rescuer Minyar Collado told The Associated Press, but she added “We were never going to leave him here.”
The rescue was considered a small miracle cutting through a week of tragedy. 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.
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.
