World
Venezuela quake survivor shares ordeal after 8 days buried alive
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Hernan Gil was working his shift as a security guard in the basement of a building in Venezuela on the afternoon of June 24 when he felt the earth shake.
The first tremor was short, Gil recounted in an interview from the hospital room where he was recovering after being rescued from the depths of a collapsed building.
Gil became a symbol of hope for Venezuela after he survived eight days of being buried alive by the double earthquake that devastated the north of the Caribbean country, leaving more than 3,300 dead. The UN estimates that as many as 50,000 people may still be unaccounted for.
“The second one was incredibly strong,” said the 43-year-old, who remembers freezing inside his guard booth, overcome with nerves.
He heard a neighbour in the car park say it was an earthquake, and then “everything collapsed”.
Gil felt everything crumble and stones hit the back of his head and eye.
