Rescuers pulled a man from under the rubble of a nine-story building in Venezuela in a “miraculous” operation eight days after the devastating earthquakes that hit the country.
Hernán Alberto Gil Flores, who was buried under 29 feet of wreckage from a collapsed shopping mall parking lot in La Guaira, was freed on Thursday amid a delicate days-long effort by local and international rescue teams.
It took more than 70 hours to rescue him, the fire brigade said in a statement, adding that he has been transferred to a medical facility.
“Fortunately, once we received Mr. Hernan in the ambulance, he was stable,” Venezuelan Red Cross paramedic Luis Rodríguez, who assisted with the rescue, told Reuters news from the scene. “During the whole ride he was conscious, focused and collaborating, and all of his vital signs were within normal.”Emergency crews said they had been communicating with Gil and giving him water, food and medication, with fluids passed to him via a hose and syringe.
