A 43-year-old security guard in Venezuela was pulled alive from the ruins of a shopping center Thursday after being trapped beneath the rubble for eight days following twin earthquakes that killed more than 2,200 people.Hernán Alberto Gil Flores was rescued from the collapsed basement of the Galerías Playa Grande shopping center in the coastal state of La Guaira, where he had been trapped since the powerful earthquakes struck June 24."When we found him, he asked us not to tell his wife that he was alive, just in case he wouldn't make it," Costa Rican Red Cross rescuer Minyar Collado told The Associated Press.Rescuers first made contact with Gil Flores over the weekend after detecting signs of life beneath the debris.BOY, 2, PULLED ALIVE FROM RUBBLE SIX DAYS AFTER VENEZUELA'S DEVASTATING TWIN EARTHQUAKESRescue workers attend to Hernán Alberto Gil Flores after he was pulled from the rubble eight days after he was trapped by twin earthquakes that struck Catia La Mar, Venezuela, Thursday, July 2, 2026.(AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)Gil Flores was working an overnight shift when the first earthquake struck.
While much of the building collapsed around him, his small security booth stayed intact, protecting him from the falling concrete and leaving enough space for him to survive.Rescue crews worked through aftershocks, torrential rain and unstable rubble to reach him.They used a telescopic camera to communicate with Gil Flores and lowered water and liquid nutrients through a narrow shaft to keep him alive during the final days of the rescue.Rescue workers carry Hernán Alberto Gil Flores Gil after he was pulled from the rubble eight days after he was trapped by twin earthquakes that struck Catia La Mar, Venezuela, Thursday, July 2, 2026.
(AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)His wife, Gusbimar González, said the family's despair turned to hope after rescuers reached her husband."When I learned he was alive, I saw a ray of light in the darkness," she told the AP.The couple has two...