Rescue teams in Venezuela rush to save security guard trapped under building
Hernán Gil Flores, a 44-year-old security guard, is trapped under a partially collapsed 10-story building in La Guaira
Almost a week after two consecutive earthquakes shook northern Venezuela, international rescue teams, including some from the United States, continue to work tirelessly to save people trapped under the rubble, like Hernán Gil Flores, a 44-year-old security guard.
Gil Flores has been trapped under a partially collapsed 10-story building in La Guaira for six days.
“It is a very complex rescue,” Manny Sampang, head of a task force for the Los Angeles County Fire Department, who is in Venezuela to assist in the rescue efforts, told CBS News.
“There are several buildings that are leaning on the main building and we are trying to rescue it,” he added.
Rescuers believe that Gil Flores is still inside the underground parking security booth. Rescuers are moving forward cautiously, worried about the possibility of parts of the building collapsing again.
His wife, Gusbimar González, informed CBS News that the rescue team has managed to contact her husband. He added that he is not injured and that they have been able to provide him with water.
As of Tuesday, the confirmed death toll from the 7.5 and 7.2 magnitude quakes, which struck just one minute apart shortly after 6:00 p.m. local time on June 24, exceeded 1,900. Tens of thousands of people remain missing, according to the United Nations.
Rescuers have found small miracles in the rubble, such as the rescue of an 18-day-old baby, who, along with his mother, was pulled from a collapsed skyscraper after being trapped for 32 hours.
In another case, a mother and her 9-month-old baby were rescued from the rubble of a collapsed building with “only minor injuries,” according to the Virginia Urban Search and Rescue Team 1.
Venezuelan authorities say that about 6,400 people have been rescued so far.
Estimates based on NASA satellite data indicate that nearly 59,000 buildings were likely damaged or completely collapsed in the affected region. The UN says that 1.8 million people, of whom almost 700,000 are children, need humanitarian assistance.
The worst part of the destruction is concentrated in La Guaira, on the Venezuelan coast. The devastation has forced many residents, like Marianae Hernández, to flee inland to Caracas, the Venezuelan capital, in the hope of finding refuge.
Hernández told CBS News that his house was destroyed and that he has lost everything. Now, she, her mother and three children live in tents.
“I try to be strong because I have children and I don't want them to see me cry,” she said. “What we are experiencing now is very difficult.”

