San Francisco Frontiers - Venezuelan rescue brings hope to nation in mourning

The 43-year-old security guard has become a symbol of hope for a nation in mourning after one of the worst earthquakes in Latin American history.

Now only remote chances exist for finding more survivors from the two earthquakes that killed nearly 2,300, destroyed entire residential buildings and left tens of thousands missing.

After a dramatic operation launched on Monday, Gil emerged in Catia La Mar, in the state of La Guaira, the area hardest hit by the June 24 earthquakes.

"I am completely surprised. It's the first time I've seen so many countries come together like this for a single cause, to save one person," his wife Gusbimar Gonzalez said. "This is truly a miracle."

Gonzalez nervously watched the rescue operation throughout.

"He wasn't hurt, he has no trauma, he managed to hide under a table and a chair," she said shortly before he emerged to the applause and cheers of his rescuers.

Gil was taken out on a stretcher and transferred to an ambulance that transported him to Caracas, 40 kilometers (25 miles) away.

Gil was brought out through a tunnel about three meters (10 feet) long. In the final phase of the operation, about 30 people worked in the building's parking lot removing debris, while two rescuers dug the tunnel.

Rescuers from seven countries -- Venezuela, Chile, the United States, Portugal, Costa Rica, El Salvador, and Mexico -- were involved in the painstaking operation.

Gil was trapped in the security booth of the seven-story building where he worked as a guard in Catia La Mar.

"The movement caused the booth to shift; it became trapped between the walls," his wife, with whom he has a 10-year-old son, told AFP.

Rescuers learned on Sunday there was a man alive in the rubble of the partially destroyed building.

Gil is among the few people who have been miraculously rescued days after the earthquakes.

But chances of finding anyone alive beneath deep rubble dwindles rapidly after a critical 72-hour window for rescuing trapped people.

- 'Complicated' -

The rescue crews had set up bases at the site to work day and night to pull out Gil.

They shored up the building's foundations with wood and steel to prevent the partially destroyed structure from collapsing further.

Venezuela has been hit by a string of aftershocks since the initial earthquakes.

An initial plan to build a 60-by-60-centimeter (24-by-24-inch) tunnel was discarded on Tuesday when the building shifted slightly.

"This is a rather complicated structure to access," Chilean rescuer Cristian Vera told AFP.

"With very large pillars...It wasn't easy to reach the exact spot."

On Wednesday, rescuers advanced along two routes simultaneously to reach Gil.

Their efforts were rewarded Thursday when Gil emerged from the rubble, as rescuers cheered, hugged and crowded around the man they worked so hard to save.

L.Ramos--SFF