Man Rescued Alive After Eight Days Trapped Under Rubble in Venezuela

Caracas. A man trapped for eight days in the rubble of a collapsed building after a powerful earthquake in Venezuela has been rescued alive. 

The man, named Hernan Gil, was successfully pulled out by rescuers more than 100 hours after being found under 140 tons of debris. 

As many as 2,300 people have been confirmed dead in two earthquakes that struck Venezuela on June 24, while thousands are still missing.

A Chilean firefighter described the rescue operation as "undoubtedly the most complex and technically difficult job I have ever faced." 

Paramedic Allan Madrigal of the Costa Rican Red Cross told reporters at the scene that Gil emerged from the horrific incident "perfectly fine." Madrigal, who was the rescuer that heard Gil's faint voice coming from the rubble on Sunday, recalled it as "an emotional moment" and initially asked a colleague to confirm if he was "just imagining it."

From that moment, rescuers began working day and night to dig him out. When the earthquake struck, Gil was on duty in a small concrete booth in the basement of the parking lot adjacent to the Galerias Playa Grande Mall in Catia La Mar. That booth appears to have acted as a shield around him, protecting him from the 140 tons of rubble. A few moments before Gil was extracted from the rubble, another Costa Rican Red Cross worker said, "He told us he hadn't even broken a fingernail."

Gil was given water and saline by doctors while teams from Venezuela, Chile, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Mexico, Portugal, and the United States worked to free him. The tunnels created to extract him collapsed repeatedly, posing equal danger to rescuers and Gil. After an all-night effort, search teams finally managed to establish visual contact with him. 

In footage recorded by a small camera inserted into the rubble, a Chilean firefighter could be heard telling him to turn his head towards the camera. One of his eyes was red, and he was wearing a mask. Rescuers gave him the mask through a small hole to protect him from dust and dirt. He was also told to wear glasses to protect his eyes as the surrounding debris was carefully removed.

Marco Antonio Franco of the Mexican Red Cross described Gil as a "smiling man." According to Franco, there was continuous conversation between rescuers and Gil about his family and this challenging rescue operation. 

This was paramedic Madrigal's first international rescue mission, and he said that his work in Venezuela had changed him.

BBC