Venezuela Earthquake Survivor Rescued After Eight Days in Rubble

After twin earthquakes struck on 24 June, a building collapsed around a parking‑lot in Catia La Mar, burying security guard Hernán Gil beneath 140 tonnes of debris. Emergency workers first located him on the same day, but it took more than 100 hours before they could secure a path to extract him.

Gil was trapped in a small concrete security booth, which may have shielded him from the crushing rubble. While underground, he survived on limited supplies and received medical care from teams on a stretcher, including a drip of water and oxygen support.

Rescue operations involved personnel from Venezuela, Chile, Costa Rica, Mexico, El Salvador, Portugal and the United States. A Chilean firefighter described the effort as the most complex operation he had faced. International paramedics reported that Gil, after escaping, was still alive, fully recovered, and emotionally supportive of the rescuers.

President Delcy Rodríguez visited Gil in hospital and called him a "living miracle," while condemning criticism that the response had been slow. She emphasized that thousands of officials were deployed after the quakes and that the government had continued to act.

Chile’s paramedic who first heard Gil’s faint cries said that at the moment he never doubted the existence of the trapped man and that from then on the rescuers pressed on. The rescue highlighted the dangers to the workers, as some of the access ducts built to reach Gil collapsed several times.