An international rescue team loads Hernan Gil, a survivor of Venezuela's twin earthquakes, into an ambulance in Catia La Mar, La Guaira State, Venezuela on July 2, 2026
Man rescued alive eight days after Venezuela earthquakes
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- International rescue teams pulled a man alive from rubble in Venezuela eight days after earthquakes, in a dramatic multi-country operation involving careful tunneling and debris clearing.
An international team of rescuers on Thursday pulled a security guard alive from the rubble of a building where he had been trapped for eight days following the twin earthquakes that struck Venezuela.
Hernán Gil, 43, was found beneath the remains of the seven-story building where he worked in Catia La Mar, a coastal area in La Guaira state that was heavily affected by the disaster.
The rescue came after three days of painstaking efforts to reach him. Gil was carefully removed from the debris on a stretcher before being taken by ambulance to receive medical treatment as rescuers celebrated the successful operation.
The rescue mission involved teams from Venezuela, Chile, the United States, Portugal, Costa Rica, El Salvador and Mexico. In the final stages of the operation, rescuers worked through a three-meter tunnel to reach Gil while crews cleared debris from the building's parking area.
Emergency teams used specialized equipment to cut through a metal plate while monitoring the stability of nearby structures to reduce the risk of further collapse. Throughout the rescue, Gil was supplied with water and oxygen through a tube.
The earthquakes have caused widespread devastation across parts of Venezuela. According to National Assembly President Jorge Rodríguez, the death toll has risen to 2,295, while more than 11,000 people have been injured.
