Venezuelan man rescued alive 8 days after powerful quakes

Venezuelan man rescued alive 8 days after powerful quakes July 2, 2026A team of international rescuers pulled a man alive from a collapsed building in Venezuela on Thursday, eight days after the country was rocked by twin earthquakes. Hernan Gil, 43, was working as a security guard at an seven-story building in Catia La Mar when part of it collapsed, trapping him in his security booth beneath the rubble. "When we found him, he asked us not to tell his wife that he was alive, just in case he wouldn’t make it," Costa Rican Red Cross rescuer Minyar Collado told the Associated Press. But, she added, "We were never going to leave him there." Gil's wife, Gusbimar Gonzalez, was elated by the news on Thursday. "I am completely surprised. It's the first time I've seen so many countries come together like this for a single cause, to save one person," she told AFP. "This is truly a miracle." "He wasn't hurt, he has no trauma, he managed to hide under a table and a chair," she added. Rescue took three days Rescuers from Venezuela, Chile, the United States, Portugal, Costa Rica, El Salvador, and Mexico worked around the clock for three days in order to rescue him. They gave him water via a hose and inserted a tube through the rubble to supply enough oxygen to stay alive. "It wasn't easy to reach the exact spot where the victim was located," Cristian Vera, the leader of the Chilean rescue team, told AFP. More to follow...