Venezuelan security guard miraculously rescued from basement 8 days after earthquakes

CATIA LA MAR, Venezuela — Rescuers pulled a 43-year-old security guard alive from a collapsed basement early Thursday, ending a grueling days-long operation that became a symbol of hope after the devastation of twin earthquakes that struck Venezuela eight days earlier.

Hernán Alberto Gil Flores was extracted safely after being trapped since June 24 under the rubble in the basement of the Galerías Playa Grande shopping center in the coastal town in La Guaira.

Rescuers initially made contact with him over the weekend.

Teams carrying flags from across the world cheered as rescuers carried Gil, wearing an oxygen mask on a stretcher covered in an orange tarp, through throngs of people into a Red Cross ambulance.

A group of men in red Costa Rican Red Cross uniforms embraced and laughed in relief, while others broke out into applause.

The rescue was considered a small miracle cutting through a week of tragedy.

With teams sustaining him with food and water while they excavated the concrete, they were able to keep him alive far longer than the 48-to-72-hour threshold most rescue operations give to find survivors in disasters.

Gil Flores worked as a night-shift security guard at the complex, and was inside his small security cabin when the first violent tremor struck.

While the surrounding concrete structure collapsed around him, his workstation cabin held ground, shielding him from crushing debris and creating a vital pocket of air.