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Venezuelan security guard rescued after eight days trapped under collapsed shopping center in La Guaira
The Apex Times

THE APEX TIMES

International/The Apex Times/Jul 2, 12:55 PM EDT

Venezuelan security guard rescued after eight days trapped under collapsed shopping center in La Guaira

Rescuers pulled Hernán Alberto Gil Flores, 43, alive from the basement of the Galerías Playa Grande shopping center in Catia La Mar on Thursday after the June 24 twin earthquakes devastated the coastal region.

2 min readEditor-approved Apex article

Rescuers in Venezuela pulled a 43-year-old security guard, Hernán Alberto Gil Flores, alive from the rubble of a collapsed shopping center in La Guaira on Thursday, ending an eight-day wait that drew cheers from gathered families and rescue teams. The rescue unfolded at the Galerías Playa Grande complex in the coastal town of Catia La Mar, where Gil Flores had been trapped beneath the debris since the start of the disaster.

Gil Flores was working an overnight shift when the first of the back-to-back earthquakes struck on June 24, collapsing much of the surrounding structure. Rescuers reported that his small security booth remained intact, creating a pocket of space that helped him survive while concrete and other materials fell around it. Authorities and rescue teams then spent days trying to reach him as the wreckage remained unstable and aftershocks complicated excavation efforts.

Multiple outlets reported that rescuers first detected signs of life beneath the debris over the weekend and continued working through the following days. When the man was finally reached, rescue workers carried him out on a stretcher wearing an oxygen mask, with the operation drawing international attention as he was taken into emergency care.

Costa Rican Red Cross rescuer Minyar Collado, according to The Associated Press coverage cited by other outlets, told reporters that when rescuers found him, he asked them not to tell his wife that he was alive “just in case he wouldn’t make it.” Collado added that the teams were not prepared to leave him where he was as they worked to extract him from the collapsed basement.

The June 24 earthquakes killed more than 2,200 people, according to reporting cited in the coverage of the rescue. With search operations stretching into the second week, the survival of Gil Flores stood out as a rare live recovery amid widespread destruction and the ongoing public-safety challenges of damaged buildings, potential further collapses, and disruptions to essential services.

Officials and rescue groups said the extraction involved coordinated efforts that included teams from multiple countries. Yahoo News Canada reported that rescue teams from seven countries were working in the quake zone as teams in the field continued to close in on survivors as time passed.

After the rescue, emergency responders were focused on stabilizing Gil Flores and providing medical evaluation and support for his family, while crews continued assessing the site for additional risks. The episode highlighted both the difficulty of finding survivors after mass-casualty quakes and the logistical burden placed on international and local responders during prolonged, hazardous debris-removal operations.

Why It Matters

  • The eight-day rescue underscores how time-sensitive search-and-rescue efforts can continue beyond early survival windows when debris configurations create pockets of air and when teams can persist despite aftershocks and instability.
  • The Galerías Playa Grande incident illustrates the risk of collapsed commercial structures to workers on-site during nighttime hours, and it raises renewed pressure for building-safety assessments and rescue readiness in earthquake-prone regions.
  • The involvement of international rescue teams reflects the regional and global scale of disaster response, including sustained coordination requirements that can strain logistics, communications, and medical capacity.
  • The reported statement about Gil Flores and his wife highlights the human consequences of disasters, including information management and trauma for families while operations are ongoing.
  • With the reported death toll already in the thousands, each live recovery can alter local family outcomes and influence how responders prioritize triage, site access, and resource allocation in subsequent search operations.

Sources

Key Facts

  • A 43-year-old Venezuelan security guard, Hernán Alberto Gil Flores, was pulled alive from the basement of the Galerías Playa Grande shopping center in Catia La Mar, La Guaira, on Thursday.
  • Gil Flores had been trapped since the twin earthquakes struck on June 24.
  • Rescue workers reported that his small security booth remained intact and helped create a survival space beneath the collapsed structure.
  • Rescuers said they made initial contact over the weekend after detecting signs of life beneath the debris.
  • Costa Rican Red Cross rescuer Minyar Collado reported that Gil Flores asked rescuers not to tell his wife he was alive.
  • The June 24 earthquakes have been reported as having killed more than 2,200 people.