Search and rescue teams from El Salvador and Chile today rescued a 44-year-old security guard trapped in the ruins of the mall where he worked in the Venezuelan state of La Guaira.
The rescue came more than a week after a duo of strong earthquakes devastated the country’s northern coast.
Reuters said that work to save Hernan Alberto Gil from the rubble of the nine-story Galerias Playa Grande shopping centre began on Monday, according to Salvadorean President Nayib Bukele, who has been posting updates about the operation on X.
Rescuers were able to supply him with hydration via tubing, Bukele has said, but needed to dig two separate tunnels to try to reach him, because of the instability of the ruins.
Gil was taken out of the rubble on a stretcher this morning and loaded into an ambulance as cheering rescuers and reporters looked on.
“This rescue was made possible thanks to the joint efforts of teams from Chile, the United States, Portugal, Mexico, Costa Rica, Venezuela and El Salvador, who worked tirelessly to remove debris, stabilize the structure and clear a path to reach Hernan,” Bukele said on X.
The rescue took some 70 hours, Chile’s firefighting service said in a post on X, but Gil was in good condition, Reuters reported.
Discussion