“Miracle” in Venezuela: Man survives eight days under rubble

Gil worked as a security guard in the building, those present said. When it collapsed, he was buried in his guardhouse. Rescue workers from seven countries took part in the operation to save him, which has already been going on for three days.

“A miracle”

The fact that her husband is still alive is “really a miracle,” Gil’s wife Gusbimar González told AFP. She was “completely overwhelmed” that people from so many countries worked together “to save a single person.” The rescue teams involved come from Venezuela, Chile, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Mexico, Portugal and the USA and work around the clock.

Early Thursday morning, rescue workers were less than a meter away from Gil. They carefully removed more rubble to prevent further collapses in the pile of rubble. The work was “quite complicated,” reported the head of the Chilean rescue team, Cristian Vera. “It wasn’t easy to get to the exact point where the victim is.”

Aid organizations are sounding the alarm

“The situation in La Guaira is much more dramatic than we initially thought. Everything is destroyed. It doesn’t look like there ever was a city there,” reports Daniella Inojosa, director and co-founder of Tinta Violeta, a local CARE partner organization in Venezuela that specializes in psychosocial care and assistance for women and children. “The scale of destruction, human loss and trauma is absolutely heartbreaking. Search and rescue efforts are ongoing. We continue to expect humanitarian needs to increase.”

“The emergency shelters in La Guaira are completely overcrowded and the hygienic conditions there are catastrophic. There is an increased risk of the spread of infections and gastrointestinal diseases,” reported Erich Fenninger, director of Volkshilfe Austria. “That’s why we are distributing hygiene packages to the affected people as a first aid measure.”

So far more than 2,200 deaths

On Wednesday last week, two strong earthquakes shook Venezuela in quick succession. According to official information, 2,295 fatalities have been recovered so far and more than 11,000 people have been injured. Tens of thousands of people are still missing. Interim President Delcy Rodríguez declared seven days of national mourning on Wednesday to commemorate the victims.