Eight days after a pair of devastating earthquakes ripped through central Venezuela, a rare story of survival is keeping hundreds of international rescue workers pushing forward against dangerous, unstable conditions. Rescuers from seven nations have spent more than 100 hours racing against the clock to extract 40-something security guard Hernán Gil, who remains alive 9 meters beneath the collapsed ruins of a multi-story car park adjacent to Catia La Mar’s Galerias Playa Grande shopping mall.
The international response team, with personnel from Venezuela, Chile, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Mexico, Portugal and the United States, first detected signs of life from Gil last Saturday. Wagner Leiva, head of emergency response for the Costa Rican Red Cross, recalled the moment his team confirmed the miracle: “We were cutting and removing concrete slabs when we got word there might be a survivor. We headed down to the basement, and after one of our members called out and listened closely, we heard someone answering back.”
Gil had been on duty inside a small concrete booth in the parking lot’s basement when the twin quakes hit on June 24. The rigid booth structure acted as a protective shell, shielding him from the 140 tons of rubble that collapsed around it, leaving him uncrushed despite the catastrophic destruction above. “He told us he doesn’t even have a crushed nail,” shared Ricardo Arias of the Costa Rican Red Cross with local journalist Joan Camargo, confirming the 40-year-old’s unexpected good physical condition.
For nearly three days after locating Gil, rescue crews worked cautiously to clear a narrow pathway to deliver his first sip of water, given the extreme instability of the surrounding debris. Access shafts dug by teams have collapsed multiple times during the operation, putting both rescuers and the survivor at constant risk. Just last night local time, crews achieved a critical milestone: they first made physical contact with Gil, and soon after established the first visual contact via a small inserted camera.
Footage from the camera shows Gil with one bloodshot eye, wearing a dust mask that rescuers passed through a narrow opening earlier to protect him from flying debris. Rescuers have since provided him with water, intravenous hydration, and even the specific flavored electrolyte drinks he requested, with teams confirming he remains in stable condition.
Far from being demoralized by his eight-day entrapment, Gil has become a source of motivation for the crews working to free him. “He’s a cheerful man, he even drives us on telling us to keep going,” said Marco Antonio Franco of the Mexican Red Cross told Mexican outlet Milenio. “He recognizes each team member, saying ‘how nice that you came back to be with me again.’ Rescuers and Gil have kept up steady conversation, talking about his family and the slow, challenging work of the rescue.”
As of Tuesday, 350 rescuers are continuing their meticulous, slow-moving extraction effort, with the goal of pulling Gil to safety within the next 24 hours. The twin June 24 earthquakes have already claimed nearly 2,300 confirmed lives across Venezuela, with tens of thousands more still unaccounted for, making Gil’s survival all the more extraordinary for first responders and the victim’s family. His wife has already called his 8-day survival under the rubble “nothing short of a miracle.”