The tale of survival defied all odds, earning itself the moniker of a miracle.
In the coastal town of Venezuela, a security guard named Hernán Alberto Gil Flores was discovered alive after being trapped for eight daunting days beneath the debris of a collapsed shopping centre. This astonishing survival occurred long past what experts deem the typical period of endurance without sustenance or water.
At the time of the disaster, the 43-year-old Flores had been on duty in a small cabin situated within the basement of Galerías Playa Grande. On June 24, the region was struck by two powerful earthquakes, registering magnitudes of 7.2 and 7.7. These tremors shook Venezuela’s north coast within a mere 60 seconds of each other. Amid the chaos, the security cabin proved to be Flores’ unlikely sanctuary, offering a degree of protection and a precious pocket of air.
Remarkably, it was not until June 29 that responders from the Costa Rican Red Cross detected signs of life from beneath the wreckage. The discovery set the stage for a meticulously planned rescue operation, which was officially launched the following day.
Vincenzo Borgna, who led the Chilean urban search and rescue team responsible for orchestrating the mission to free Flores, recounted the operation’s complexity. He described the efforts to recover the trapped security guard as “extremely complex and dangerous,” underscoring the perilous conditions faced by rescue teams as they worked tirelessly to bring Flores to safety.
It was like “a sand castle with a building on top, and you take a rock away, and it’ll fall”, Borgna told SBS News in Venezuela.
Inside the three-day rescue
The rescue operation brought together responders from around the world, including Chilean firefighters and specialist teams from the United States, Portugal, Mexico, Costa Rica, and El Salvador.
Borgna says the operation was “so difficult that the technical and engineering teams from the US had dismissed it as too risky”.
Initial strategies to save Flores had failed. SBS News understands that rescuers had even come within a 50cm vicinity of Flores before they had to re-evaluate their plans.
Not only were rescuers forced to tunnel beneath debris, but they also navigated highly unstable structures, torrential rain and persistent aftershocks.
Throughout the three-day mission, a telescopic camera was used to maintain ongoing contact with Flores. More than 10 litres of water and liquid nutrients were also transported via a hose through a narrow shaft of debris.
Despite the circumstances, Borgna told SBS News that Flores was in remarkably high spirits.
“He wanted to come out walking, that’s all I can tell you, he didn’t want to come out on a stretcher.”
In a video published by Chilean firefighters in the hours before his rescue, Flores is reportedly shown drawing to pass the time.
When he was finally extricated from the rubble, wearing protective goggles, Borgna recalled.
He stood up in the tunnel, and he came on to our stretcher himself walking. He was in a very good mood.
Minyar Collado from the Costa Rican Red Cross said when rescuers initially discovered Flores, “he asked us not to tell his wife that he was alive, just in case he wouldn’t make it”.
“We were never going to leave him here,” Collado said.
‘A ray of light in the darkness’
Flores’ wife, Gusbimar González, told local media that she was racked with despair during the initial days her husband was missing. The couple have two children, aged eight and 10.
“When I learned he was alive, I saw a ray of light in the darkness,” she said.
Venezuela’s acting president, Delcy Rodríguez, also applauded the rescue on social media, saying: “We celebrate the greatness of humanity, when it is united for a single purpose: to save another. Thank you to our rescuers and to the support of the international rescuers.”
Her comments come as Venezuela’s government faces mounting criticism regarding its response to the disaster.
Other rescues — including a three-year-old boy who was found alive after being trapped beneath a collapsed building for six days — have also made headlines. However, experts believe the chance of finding quake survivors will become more unlikely as time passes.
The first 24 hours after a disaster are usually when most rescues occur, with the crucial window around 72 hours. The chances of survival drop with each day if there’s no access to water, among other factors.
“From roughly the 25th hour to the 72nd hour, the rescues become more complex,” Chilean rescuer Exequiel Gallardo told Reuters news agency.
“That’s when international rescue teams like ours come in to assist, carrying out breaching operations and accessing victims who are not as easy to reach.
“After the 72nd hour, the rescues become extremely difficult. After the fifth day, they are even referred to as ‘miracle rescues.’ It is very rare to find people alive after so many days, yet we are still here working to rescue this trapped person.”
According to the latest Venezuelan government figures, at least 2,295 people have died since the June earthquakes. Tens of thousands remain missing.
As the death toll continues to mount, Venezuelan authorities are now confronting a new challenge — recovering, identifying and burying thousands of victims.
That reality has overwhelmed Venezuela’s forensic system, with temporary morgues established, including in the port city of La Guardia.