CARACAS: 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 with AFP 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 nearly 3,000 dead.
"The second one was incredibly strong," said the 43-year-old, who remembers freezing inside his guard booth, overcome with nerves.
He heard a neighbor in the parking lot say it was an earthquake, and then "everything collapsed."
