International rescue workers pulled a 43-year-old security guard alive from the rubble of a collapsed seven-story building on Thursday, eight days after twin earthquakes devastated Catia La Mar, Venezuela.
Hernan Gil survived after being trapped under 140 tonnes of rubble in a small concrete basement parking lot booth that shielded him during the June 24 disasters.
>>> German Coalition Unveils Major Economic Reform Package
Emergency teams from seven nations, including Venezuela, Chile, the United States, Portugal, Costa Rica, El Salvador, and Mexico, collaborated for over 100 hours to extract him through a three-meter tunnel.
The rescue occurred as the official death toll reached 2,295, with 11,000 injured and approximately 50,000 people still missing across the country.
Authorities estimate that 60,000 buildings were damaged or destroyed, leaving 13,000 people homeless.
Complex Rescue Operation
A Chilean firefighter involved in the operation highlighted the extreme difficulties faced by the international emergency teams during the grueling extraction process.
"Without doubt the most complex and technically difficult which I've had to tackle," said the unnamed Chilean firefighter.
Costa Rican Red Cross paramedic Allan Madrigal, who first detected the survivor on Sunday, described the emotional weight of hearing signs of life beneath the debris.
"It was an emotional moment," Madrigal recalled. He added that the experience profoundly affected him during his deployment.
"The lad who came here a week ago is not the same one that will return to Costa Rica, believe me," Madrigal said.
An anonymous fellow Costa Rican Red Cross worker shared an optimistic update regarding Gil's physical condition just moments before the final extraction.
