Rescuers race to save man trapped six days in Venezuela collapse

Rescuers have reached Hernan Gil Flores with water inside a partially collapsed 10-story building in La Guaira, but the 44-year-old security guard remained trapped six days after twin earthquakes shattered northern Venezuela. Crews were still trying to reach the security booth in the building’s underground parking garage, where Gil Flores is pinned.

The operation has been slow and dangerous because nearby buildings are leaning into the damaged structure, raising the risk of another cave-in if crews move too quickly or bring in the wrong equipment. Rescue teams have been working carefully underground, relying on contact with Gil Flores to keep him alive while they clear access to the booth and stabilize the area around it.

The quakes struck on June 24, just after 6 p.m. local time, with magnitudes of 7.2 and 7.5. The second was the country’s most powerful earthquake in more than a century. La Guaira, about 40 kilometers north of Caracas, has been among the hardest-hit places, and by June 26, 172 people were still trapped and more than 50,000 were missing.

The death toll climbed rapidly as search teams moved through collapsed homes, apartment blocks and public buildings. It rose from at least 920 on June 26 to more than 1,450 by June 28, then surpassed 1,900 by June 30. Roughly 6,400 people had been rescued by that point, but the scale of the damage still overwhelmed local capacity.

The United Nations estimates 1.8 million people need humanitarian assistance, and based on satellite data, nearly 59,000 buildings may have been damaged or collapsed across the affected region. Rescue crews from the United States, Mexico and other countries joined the search, filling gaps as local residents and volunteers complained about shortages of heavy equipment and delays in the official response. Families have also managed to reunite with some survivors, including an 18-day-old baby and his mother.