Video Shows Rescue Teams Working to Save Man Trapped Under 10-Story Building in Venezuela After Deadly Earthquakes


Security guard Hernán Gil Flores, 44, is believed to have been stuck in the building's underground parking garage since two huge earthquakes hit the country on Wednesday, June 24

Rescue operations for Hernán Gil Flores, led by Bomberos de Chile in La Guaira, VenezuelaCredit: Chilean Firefighters | Emergency Professionals/Instagram
Rescue operations for Hernán Gil Flores, led by Bomberos de Chile in La Guaira, Venezuela
Credit: Chilean Firefighters | Emergency Professionals/Instagram

NEED TO KNOW

  • International rescue teams in Venezuela are working to save a security guard trapped under a partially collapsed building in La Guaira
  • Hernán Gil Flores, 44, is believed to be stuck in the building’s underground parking garage after two huge earthquakes hit the South American country on Wednesday, June 24
  • Chilean firefighting organization Bomberos de Chile shared footage of the rescue efforts on Instagram

International rescue teams in Venezuela appear to be getting closer to bringing a security guard, who has been trapped under rubble since two huge earthquakes hit the country last week, to safety, video footage shows.

Hernán Gil Flores, 44, has been stuck under a 10-story building that partially collapsed in the quakes, with rescue teams from countries including Chile, the U.S. and El Salvador working to bring him out.

Gil Flores is believed to be in the security booth of the building's underground parking garage, CBS News reported. The building is in the northern city of La Guaira, which has been severely affected by the quakes.

View this post on Instagram

Gil Flores' wife, Gusbimar Gonzalez, told the outlet that rescuers had made contact with her husband. She confirmed that he's not believed to be injured and that he's been able to take water from the rescue teams.

Bomberos de Chile, an organization that brings together Chilean firefighters, is leading the rescue efforts and posted video footage from the search on Instagram.

Rescue operations for Hernán Gil Flores, led by Bomberos de Chile in La Guaira, VenezuelaCredit: Chilean Firefighters | Emergency Professionals/Instagram
Rescue operations for Hernán Gil Flores, led by Bomberos de Chile in La Guaira, Venezuela
Credit: Chilean Firefighters | Emergency Professionals/Instagram

"Hernán is currently being kept hydrated and fed by the rescue teams, who have redoubled their efforts to bring him out alive as soon as possible," the organization wrote alongside the footage on Wednesday, July 1, translated from Spanish.

PEOPLE has reached out to Bomberos de Chile for additional information, but did not immediately hear back.

Rescue teams have had to tread carefully as the building could collapse further.

"It is a very complex rescue," Manny Sampang, a task force leader from the Los Angeles County Fire Department, told CBS News. "I have multiple buildings leaning into that building that we are trying to rescue him from."

El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele has also been keeping his followers updated with the rescue mission on social media.

In an X post on Wednesday, Bukele wrote, alongside additional footage, that Gil Flores was still trapped after 58 hours of searching. "The tunnel we had excavated has suffered several collapses," he wrote in the post, which has been translated from Spanish.

"The decision has been made to open, in parallel, a new tunnel from another point, where there might be a greater chance of advancing safely," he added.

Rubble in La Guaira on Thursday, July 2, eight days after two huge earthquakes hit VenezuelaCredit: Cem Tekkesinoglu/Anadolu via Getty
Rubble in La Guaira on Thursday, July 2, eight days after two huge earthquakes hit Venezuela
Credit: Cem Tekkesinoglu/Anadolu via Getty

The two earthquakes, measuring 7.2 and 7.5 in magnitude, hit Venezuela just seconds apart on Wednesday, June 24.

More than 2,000 people have died, with more than 11,000 injured, The Times reported.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

In La Guaira, around 6,500 people have officially been rescued. However, the figure could be closer to 20,000, with people who escaped themselves or were helped by family also taken into account, per the newspaper.

According to CBS News, NASA satellite data indicates that nearly 59,000 buildings were likely damaged, while the United Nations believes about 1.8 million people require humanitarian assistance.





Source link

Hunched over the wheel, the giant taxi driver looked like a Mafia henchman and sped off in the wrong direction. When I pointed this out the cab mysteriously broke down. He was planning to pull the infamous ‘kidnapper taxi’ scam… Here’s how I thwarted him

Ancient cave paintings can harbor human DNA for millennia, scientists find

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *