Eight days after the devastating earthquake that struck Venezuela on June 24, rescue teams pulled security guard Hernán Alberto Gil Flores, 43, alive from the basement of a collapsed building. It was a difficult operation lasting several days, which became an example of hope after the devastation caused by two earthquakes in Venezuela eight days earlier. Hernán Alberto Gil Flores, buried under debris since June 24 in the basement of the ‘Galerias Playa Grande’ shopping center in the coastal town of La Guaira, is pulled out on a stretcher by helmeted rescue workers. He was covered in dust.
Rescue workers, who had made contact with Gil Flores over the weekend, worked more than 100 hours to free him. They made a tunnel through a very unstable structure, heavy rain and continuous aftershocks to reach the person.
People expressed happiness after the rescue
Teams of people carrying flags from around the world cheered as rescue workers wearing oxygen masks and wrapped in orange tarpaulins carried Gil Flores through the crowd of people to an ambulance, where they carefully checked his vital signs (such as pulse, blood pressure, etc.). A Chilean rescue worker carrying a stretcher waved his fist in the air in celebration. A group of people wearing the red uniforms of the Costa Rican Red Cross breathed a sigh of relief and hugged each other. The rest of the people applauded.
A small miracle amidst tragedy
When we found him, he asked us not to tell his wife that he was alive, because he might not survive, Costa Rica Red Cross rescuer Minyar Collado told The Associated Press. But he further said, we were never going to leave him here. This rescue operation was seen as a small miracle amidst the week-long tragedy. By providing food and water to Gil Flores, rescue teams were able to keep him alive much longer than the 48 to 72-hour time limit that is typically set for searching for survivors of disasters.
Flores used to work as a security guard
Gil Flores, who worked as a night-shift security guard at the complex, was inside his small security cabin when the first powerful shock occurred. The concrete structure around them collapsed, but their cabin remained intact, saving them from being buried under the debris and providing a much-needed air space. A special team of the Costa Rica Red Cross first identified signs of his being alive and contacted him on Sunday. His wife, Gusbimar Gonzalez, said she struggled with despair for days before receiving news that rescue teams had contacted her.
He said that when I came to know that he was alive, I saw a ray of hope in the darkness. The couple has two children, aged 8 and 10 years. The operation was coordinated by an urban search and rescue team of Chilean firefighters, who worked around the clock with specialized teams from the United States, Portugal, Mexico, Costa Rica, El Salvador and Venezuela.
Celebration of success of rescue operation
Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodriguez celebrated the success of the rescue operation on social media. This has happened at a time when his government is being criticized. Many Venezuelans say the government’s response to the crisis was inadequate. He wrote in a post on X, We celebrate the greatness of humanity when people unite for a cause. Thanks to the cooperation of our rescue teams and international rescue teams.
Rescue teams used telescopic cameras to maintain constant contact with Gil Flores. During the last three days of the rescue operation, water and liquid nutrients were delivered through a narrow passage to keep them hydrated.
drawing to pass time
Experienced Chilean firefighter María Paz Campos talked to him throughout the operation and kept him calm in his difficult final hours on Thursday. In a video released by Chilean firefighters hours before the rescue, Gil Flores can be seen drawing to pass the time. Then Campos gently asks them to look at the camera and wear protective glasses. “I need you to keep wearing glasses so that the small particles falling don’t get into your eyes,” Campos told the survivor.
Two consecutive earthquakes on June 24
The collapse of the building was caused by two consecutive earthquakes on June 24, whose magnitudes were measured at 7.2 and 7.5. Shallow but strong tremors damaged or destroyed thousands of buildings in northern Venezuela. These earthquakes killed more than 2,200 people, injured more than 11,000, and made La Guaira state the worst affected area in the country.
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