Death Toll Nears 2,300 as Survivor Rescued Eight Days After Venezuela Earthquakes

Reuters

Venezuela’s earthquake.

Rescue teams on Thursday pulled a man alive from the rubble in Venezuela, eight days after the devastating earthquakes that struck on 24 June, AFP reported, as the death toll climbed to almost 2,300.

Although thousands of people remain unaccounted for, the rescue of 43-year-old security guard Hernan Gil, who had been trapped beneath the debris for more than a week, was hailed as nothing short of miraculous.

Gil had been buried beneath the collapsed guard room of the building where he worked in the Catia La Mar area of La Guaira state, in northern Venezuela.

“It’s a miracle,” his wife, Guspímar González, told AFP before he was rescued. “I’m overwhelmed because it’s the first time I’ve seen so many countries working together to save a single person.”

Rescue teams from Venezuela, Chile, the United States, Portugal, Costa Rica, El Salvador and Mexico worked around the clock to reach Gil. The operation proved particularly challenging, as crews had to avoid triggering further collapses of already unstable buildings nearby.

“It was not easy to reach the exact location where the victim was trapped,” said Cristian Vera, head of the Chilean rescue team.

Despite several remarkable rescues, including that of a three-year-old child found alive on Tuesday, six days after the disaster, hopes of locating more survivors are steadily diminishing.

National Assembly President Jorge Rodríguez announced on Wednesday that the death toll had risen to 2,295. He added that more than 11,000 people had been injured, while around 13,000 had been left homeless.

Tens of thousands of people are still missing following the twin earthquakes, measuring 7.2 and 7.5 in magnitude, which struck on 24 June. Among the deadliest seismic disasters in Latin American history, the quakes levelled entire residential neighbourhoods and prompted one of the region’s largest search and rescue operations.

The disaster comes as Venezuela continues to navigate a political transition, six months after the US-backed removal of former President Nicolás Maduro.

Attention is now shifting towards the growing humanitarian crisis facing survivors, many of whom remain without shelter as food and clean water supplies become increasingly scarce.



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