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, 44, 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.

Rescue Efforts

Flores is in ‘good condition’ after being rescued from the rubble of a collapsed building eight days after Venezuela’s twin earthquakes, according to Chile’s fire brigade, which was involved in the rescue. The man’s wife, Gusbimar Gonzales, told CNN moments before the successful rescue that she had experienced ‘days of great sorrow’ following the earthquakes as she thought he might be dead.

Video shows the moment rescuers first made visual contact with Gil, who worked as a security guard at the mall, via a search camera fed into the collapsed basement of the building on Wednesday. The man’s fingers could be seen waving though a small gap between layers of thick concrete and debris, in the video posted by the Chile Fire Department.

Aftermath

The coastal city of La Guaira, where Gil was found, was one of the hardest-hit parts of the country from the two massive earthquakes, and rescue operations remain ongoing. At least 2,295 people have died, according to National Assembly President Jorge Rodríguez, with the casualty figure believed to be much larger.

Original reporting: KTVZ (Central Oregon) — read the source article.