Catia La Mar, Venezuela, July 2 (EFE).- Rescue teams pulled a man alive from the rubble of a collapsed building in northern Venezuela on Thursday after he spent eight days trapped following the powerful earthquakes that struck the country on June 24.
Hernán Gil was rescued after nearly 72 hours of continuous operations at the building in Catia La Mar, in La Guaira state, near Caracas. He was taken by ambulance to a private clinic in Caracas.
Gil had been trapped inside the basement security booth where he worked after the 7.2- and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes caused the building to collapse.
The rescue operation officially began at 10 a.m. local time (1400 GMT) on Monday. Since then, around 100 rescuers from Venezuela, Chile, the United States, Portugal, Costa Rica and El Salvador maintained constant communication with Gil, providing him with water and medication while working to reach him.
Rescuers first established contact with Gil on Sunday and remained in communication with him throughout the operation.
