Living after eight days in ruins 43-year-old guard in Venezuela

Hernan Alberto Gil Flores was saved in the early hours of Thursday morning after he had been stranded since 24 June in the basement of the industrial centre “Galerias Playa Grande” in the coastal town of La Guaira. Rescue teams had managed to establish contact with him over the weekend, writes AFPPeriscope broadcast.

The moment of salvation was accompanied by intense emotion. International rescue search teams, bearing flags of their countries, broke out in applause and cheers, while Gil Flores was transported in stretch, covered in an orange blanket, towards an ambulance of the Red Cross. Members of Costa Rica's Red Cross team embraced between tears and smiles, celebrating the success of the operation.

The 43-year-old man who worked on the night shift as a security guard at the trading complex was in his work booth when the first powerful earthquake struck. Although the nearby concrete structure collapsed, the small cabin where he stood stood stood, protecting him from ruins and creating a vital space of air that allowed him to survive for more than a week.

When we found him, he asked us not to tell our wife that he was alive, for fear of failing to survive”, the savior of Costa Rica's Red Cross, Minyar Collado, declared the Associated Press.