LA GUAIRA, Venezuela — A man was pulled from the rubble of a collapsed car park in Venezuela, eight days after a pair of earthquakes hit the country.
Crews from half a dozen countries found Hernán Gil on Saturday, but were only able to get him out on Thursday, more than a week after the quakes struck, the BBC reported.
His fingers could be seen waving through a small gap between layers of concrete, as shown in a video shared by the Chile Fire Department.
He was given food, water and medication via a hose and a syringe.
Gil’s wife said it was a miracle that her husband survived. Nearly 2,300 people are confirmed dead, while tens of thousands are still missing.
Typically, the “golden window” for survivors is three days because the chances of survival without water diminish.
A rescuer can be heard on a video shared by El Salvador’s president, asking Gill, “Are you hurt?” and his response, “No, I’m not hurt. I’m just uncomfortable because of the rocks.”
Usbimar Gonzales, Gill’s wife, told CNN just before he was rescued, that she had “days of great sorrow” after the quake hit, thinking that he could be dead.
“But once I found out that he was alive, I saw a ray of sunshine. He was holding up like a hero,” she said.
Gill was pulled out of the collapsed shopping mall parking lot on Thursday morning after cheering on rescue crews who were digging to get to him. The building was unstable as they worked to get him to safety, dealing at times with falling debris and a collapsing tunnel, CNN reported.
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