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Man rescued alive from rubble in Venezuela one week after earthquake

El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele said the operation succeeded thanks to the joint efforts of rescue teams from Chile, the US, Portugal, Mexico, Costa Rica, Venezuela, and El Salvador

MEXICO CITY, July 2. /TASS/. Rescue workers pulled a 44-year-old man alive from the rubble of the Galerias Playa Grande shopping center in Venezuela after he had spent more than seven days trapped beneath the debris, El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele announced on X.

"After more than 72 hours of work and battling an extremely unstable structure, aftershocks, collapses, and the need to create a new access route, <...> we rescued 44-year-old Hernan Alberto Gil Flores alive after he had spent more than seven days trapped under the rubble," Bukele wrote.

He said the operation succeeded thanks to the joint efforts of rescue teams from Chile, the US, Portugal, Mexico, Costa Rica, Venezuela, and El Salvador.

Bukele praised the survivor's "extraordinary strength and resilience" and said he was receiving medical care. "Doctors are currently assessing his condition so he can be transferred to a hospital for further treatment," he added.

The earthquake struck Venezuela on the evening of June 24. Two powerful tremors, measuring magnitudes 7.2 and 7.5, were recorded with a gap of about 40 seconds. Their epicenters were located about 10 km apart in Venezuela's Yaracuy state. According to the latest reports, the disaster claimed 2,295 lives.