Man pulled alive from Venezuela mall rubble eight days after earthquakes

CARACAS: A 44-year-old security guard was rescued alive from the debris of a collapsed shopping centre in Venezuela on Thursday, nearly eight days after two powerful earthquakes struck the country’s northern coast.

Hernan Alberto Gil was brought out of the ruins of the nine-storey Galerias Playa Grande mall in La Guaira state, where he had remained trapped since last week’s twin quakes, measured at 7.2 and 7.5, hit less than a minute apart.

The rescue effort began on Monday and continued for about 70 hours. Teams from El Salvador and Chile led the operation, working carefully because of the instability of the damaged structure. Rescuers kept Gil alive by sending water to him through tubing while excavating two separate tunnels to reach him safely.

He was removed from the wreckage on a stretcher to applause from rescuers and people gathered at the site before being taken away in an ambulance. Chile’s firefighting service said he was in good condition.

El Salvador President Nayib Bukele said the operation succeeded through the joint work of rescue personnel from Chile, the United States, Portugal, Mexico, Costa Rica, Venezuela and El Salvador. According to him, the teams worked together to clear debris, reinforce the damaged building and open a secure path to the survivor.

Death toll and missing persons

Government figures released on Wednesday put the death toll from the earthquakes at 2,295. Thousands of people remain unaccounted for.

An unofficial but widely used online registry showed around 38,600 people still missing on Thursday, compared with almost 60,000 in the immediate aftermath of the disaster.

A United Nations envoy said this week that 10,000 body bags were being obtained for Venezuela, while the US Geological Survey has estimated that the final number of deaths could rise above 10,000.

Rescue effort continues

Despite a strong security presence in the affected areas, much of the rescue and relief work has been carried out by civilians, many of them volunteers. Residents have spent days searching through collapsed buildings using shovels, pickaxes and their bare hands alongside firefighters, civil protection workers, foreign rescue teams and medical volunteers.

Some international teams, including groups from Germany and Switzerland, have already completed their missions. However, rescuers from more than a dozen countries are still in Venezuela as the search for survivors goes on.