appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

isVideo

articlePageQuery

article

articleSchemaContent

content

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

hooksArticlePageTypeformConfigArticle

appConfig

filter

json

liveArticle

Agence France-Presse

Hernan Gil was working his shift as a security guard in the basement of a building in Venezuela on the afternoon of June 24 when he felt the earth shake.
The first tremor was short, Gil recounted in an interview from the hospital room where he was recovering after being rescued from the depths of a collapsed building.
Gil became a symbol of hope for Venezuela after he survived eight days of being buried alive by the double earthquake that devastated the north of the Caribbean country, leaving more than 3,300 dead. The UN estimates that as many as 50,000 people may still be unaccounted for.
“The second one was incredibly strong,” said the 43-year-old, who remembers freezing inside his guard booth, overcome with nerves.
He heard a neighbour in the car park say it was an earthquake, and then “everything collapsed”.
Gil felt everything crumble and stones hit the back of his head and eye.


“I lost consciousness for a moment. When I woke up, everything was dark … From then on, everything was uncertain.”
Gil could not see anything or hear anyone. He tried calling the neighbour he had last seen before being swallowed by the earth, “but nothing”.
“And at that moment, despair overwhelmed me,” said Gil, who began shouting for help, but received no response.
In the darkness, partially kneeling, gasping for air and practically immobile, he suffered aftershock after aftershock.
“I felt like the wall was completely crushing me.”
Despite the traumatic experience, Gil appeared in good spirits 72 hours after being freed from the hole where he was buried beneath a collapsing eight-storey building.

Seated in an armchair, dressed in a blue hospital gown, with his left arm in a sling, the security guard said his faith sustained him during the harrowing hours.
“I prayed a lot. I cried out to God, and I said, ‘My God, why me? Why like this? Please, at least let me see my children’.”
Trapped in an uncomfortable position, Gil tried to lie on either side of his hole, but he could not sleep.
The rocks he had fallen on bruised his legs, his nose bled, and his right eye was swollen and red, although he did not realise that at the time.
In those lonely hours, he thought of his wife, Gusbimar Gonzalez, who was outside looking for any sign of life.
He also thought of his children and his deceased father.
“So many memories came flooding back,” he said.
Gil lost track of time, but it was on the third day that he heard footsteps, “but very far away”.
He began to shout and call for help, and finally, he heard a response.
Gil remembers, smiling, that at that moment he thought, “Oh my God, there’s a step. There’s a glimmer of hope”.
But then began a dramatic rescue that Gil described as “a fierce struggle”.
While rescue teams from seven countries fought to reach Gil, keep him hydrated, and maintain his spirits, the 43-year-old felt the walls continue to shift, trapping him more.
But when two rescuers from Chile and the United States finally reached him after more than three days of complex operations, Gil could not bring himself to rejoice.
“The hardest part was getting out,” recalled Gil, whose legs had been entangled in a chair.
Gil has no doubt that it was a life-changing miracle.
“I was reborn!” he said.
Now in hospital, Gil managed to talk to his children via video call and cannot wait to go home. But the doctors have not given him a discharge date.
He sleeps more easily now, but sometimes the harrowing moments he experienced underground wake him.
Accompanied day and night by his wife, Gil is not quite sure what comes next in his new life.
For now, all he knows is that he wants to celebrate his son’s birthday on July 15, take some long-awaited holidays at the beach, and that he would never work in a basement again.


Venezuela quakes survivor shares ordeal after 8 days buried alive

Venezuela leader vows ‘no social unrest’ as quakes death toll passes 3,300

Venezuela quake death toll rises to nearly 3,000

Fallout from Venezuela’s quakes turns political, as opposition leader Machado seeks return

Venezuela

Hernan Gil, who survived for nearly eight days beneath the rubble. Photo: AFP

Hernan Gil when he was trapped in the rubble. Photo: Bomberos de Chile via AFP

Rescuers working to save Hernan Gil. Photo: City of Miami Fire-Rescue via AFP

Rescuers attempting to reach the security guard. Photo: City of Miami Fire-Rescue via AFP

Hernan Gil after being pulled from the rubble. Photo: AFP

Rescuers hug after their success. Photo: Reuters

Rescuers search the rubble of a collapsed building on Sunday. Photo: Reuters

Coffins stacked at a seaport where forensic workers sort bodies. Photo: AP

US rescuers work at the site of a collapsed building in La Guaira, Venezuela, on Friday. Photo: Reuters

A man pauses while searching for his family members beneath the rubble in Los Corales, La Guaira, on Saturday. Photo: Reuters

‘Truly a miracle’: man rescued from Venezuela rubble 8 days after twin quakes

Hernan Gil after his rescue from the rubble on Thursday. Photo: AFP

Rescuers hug each other after pulling out Hernan Gil. Photo: Reuters

A US rescuer marks a wall with the letter ‘V’ for victims at the garage of the building from which Hernan Gil was rescued. Photo: AFP

A building marked with ‘SOS’. Photo: AP

Why did they pancake? Building failures, soft soil amplify Venezuela quake destruction

An aerial view shows the catastrophic destruction of flattened housing structures in La Guaira, Venezuela. Photo: Handout via Reuters

Volunteers search for missing people. Photo: EPA

A collapsed building in La Guaira. Photo: Reuters

Venezuela faces post-quake medical crisis as threat of infections looms

A child’s toy and debris in La Guaira, Venezuela. Photo: Reuters

Members of the US Air Force 21st Special Tactics Squadron. Photo: Reuters

A Samaritan’s Purse emergency field hospital. Photo: Reuters

News

World

Americas

Security guard recalls surviving darkness, aftershocks and walls shifting before his miraculous rescue from a collapsed building


Security guard recalls surviving darkness, aftershocks and walls shifting before his miraculous rescue from a collapsed building.


Venezuela quakes survivor shares ordeal after 8 days buried alive

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Security guard recalls surviving darkness, aftershocks and walls shifting before his miraculous rescue from a collapsed building

Security guard recalls surviving darkness, aftershocks and walls shifting before his miraculous rescue from a collapsed building