Rescuers dug out alive a 44-year-old security guard trapped in the ruins of the mall where he worked in the Venezuelan state of La Guaira, more than a week after two strong earthquakes devastated the country’s northern coast.
Work to save Hernan Alberto Gil from the rubble of the nine-story Galerias Playa Grande shopping center began on Monday, according to Salvadorean President Nayib Bukele, who has been posting updates on X about the operation that also involved teams from Chile, the United States, Portugal, Mexico, Costa Rica and Venezuela.
Rescuers were able to provide him with hydration via tubing, Bukele has said, but needed to dig two separate tunnels to try to reach him, because of the instability of the ruins.
Gil was carried out of the rubble on a stretcher on Thursday morning and loaded into an ambulance as cheering rescuers and reporters looked on.
“I’m grateful to God for keeping him alive for so many days, despite not being able to eat or stay hydrated,” said Gusbimar Gonzalez, Gil’s wife.
“He endured it all like a warrior.”
Rescuers said they abandoned their original plan after deciding the first tunnel could provide structural support but was not safe for a rescue operation, prompting them to open a second access route.
The 7.2- and 7.5-magnitude quakes struck less than a minute apart almost eight days ago, killing 2,295 people, according to the latest government figures.
The number of people listed as still missing on an unofficial but widely used online list was down to some 38,600 on Thursday morning, after peaking at nearly 60,000 in the days immediately after the quake.
A United Nations envoy this week said it was procuring 10,000 body bags for Venezuela and the USGS has estimated more than 10,000 deaths were possible. Catastrophe and risk modeling firm Verisk said it expects economic losses from the quakes to top $10 billion.
