LA GUAIRA, Venezuela — Scores of emergency responders gathered outside the collapsed shopping center, eager for a respite from the days of devastation and carnage they had witnessed in quake-ravaged Venezuela.
Finally, the long-anticipated moment arrived: Firefighters wheeled out a gurney carrying Hernán Alberto Gil Flores — a security guard who survived for more than a week trapped under a mountain of rubble.
Spontaneous applause erupted — and even some tears were shed — at the battered parking structure where Gil had been entombed since the two temblors struck within seconds of each other on June 24.
And among those present were members of the Los Angeles County Fire Department.
“We are just so proud to have been part of this,” Capt. Adam Bradley said after Thursday’s dramatic events. “So happy to think that the contributions that we and others made will help this man go back to his family and, hopefully, live a wonderful life.”
The against-all-odds survival narrative stunned even veteran first responders.
“There aren’t many successful cases of people being rescued alive after seven days trapped in a building,” Mario Armenteras, an emergency worker from Chile, told reporters. “It’s quite historic for us. And it’s a rescue that will be remembered for a long time by all the teams here working together here from all countries from throughout the world.”
The cinematic denoument revived some measure of hope in a reeling nation, where the official casualty count announced Saturday climbed to 2,954 dead and 16,592 injured, with thousands remaining missing.
“I never lost hope,” said Franyimar González, 32, Gil’s wife, who held daily vigil outside the entrance of the parking structure. “I thank God that my husband was spared amid this great tragedy.”
The operation was a testament to the growing effectiveness of a multinational collection of urban search-and-rescue squads — known as USAR — that have become ubiquitous life-savers at epicenters of calamity across the globe.
Some two dozen nations have sent some 3,000 emergency personnel to Venezuela. Among their polyglot ranks are search-and-rescue specialists, doctors, canine teams and structural engineers.
Many have worked and trained alongside each other for years, forming bonds that transcend cultures and languages. The camaraderie was evident on the ground here in La Guaira, the coastal city where quake damage was most severe, collapsing dozens of buildings.
“We know these guys on a first-name basis,” said Trey Espy, assistant L.A. County fire chief, of the Chilean, Mexican and other responders at the scene. “So it’s pretty easy to coordinate and get things done.”
Espy and Bradley were part of the 70-plus-member L.A. County emergency contingent dispatched to Venezuela. Some have previous quake-relief experience in Turkey, Haiti and Nepal, among other sites across the globe.
About 100 emergency workers from half a dozen countries — including the L.A. County team — toiled for days to reach Gil, who worked as a security guard in an underground parking structure.
Gil was trapped beneath more than 100 tons of rubble after the partial collapse of the Galerias Playa Grande commercial center, which includes buildings nine and four stories tall.
The rescue, which involved intricate planning, was largely accomplished without the use of heavy machinery. Vibrations from earth-moving equipment could have triggered further collapses, possibly dooming Gil — and his would-be rescuers.
On their way in, crews had to clear debris from multiple floors; aside from chunks of concrete, masonry and flooring, obstacles included a bathroom sink and toilet that had tumbled down from above.
“It mostly came down to using shovels and buckets and hands, things like that,” Espy said.
Fortuitously, the small kiosk where Gil was encased acted as a kind of buffer, offering some measure of protection from the accumulation of debris looming above. He managed to survive in the shielded void, a life-saving scenario that occasionally unfolds as multistory structures tumble pancake-style, support beams buckle and slabs of concrete crash down.
“The hope is, as the debris falls, you may be entombed but you won’t be injured,” Espy said. “You can’t get out, but you’re alive.”
It was on June 28 when rescuers from Costa Rica first detected signs of life in the ruins of the shopping center, according to various reports.
The next day, a team from Chile, utilizing radar and sonar sound-detection equipment, confirmed the presence of Gil, still alive, in the sub-basement.
The Chileans drilled holes allowing workers to insert a camera and pinpoint his location. Rescuers managed to speak with Gil and film him, assessing that, while bruised, he had apparently sustained no major injuries.
Rescuers were able to insert tubes to provide water, hydration fluids, protein shakes and medicine to Gil. Lights were also inserted.
The Chileans called in the L.A. County squad to help develop a strategy for the best way to extract the survivor, Espy said.
Emergency experts working day and night contemplated various entry and exit routes from the nearest accessible access point, about 75 feet away from where Gil was trapped. Rescuers first had to descend via a rubble-strewn parking lot ramp and navigate a flight of stairs, ever-aware of the danger of a new collapse of the tottering structure.
It was a race against time. Crews scooped out a pair of tunnels, reinforcing walls as they advanced.
“We mixed our teams, and everyone just kind of attacked it,” Espy said.
The rescuers guided Gil out of his would-be tomb, onto a gurney and outside into the crush of onlookers waiting below the tropical sun, already blazing before 10 a.m. News crews, Venezuelan officials and nearby residents were drawn to a remarkable scene that offered a glimmer of hope amid the country’s otherwise dystopian tableau.
As he was wheeled away to a waiting ambulance, Gil wore an oxygen mask and neck brace, and his face showed bruising. But officials said he appeared in extraordinary shape under the extreme circumstances, pending medical exams.
Emotions ran deep among the multinational assemblage of emergency workers who witnessed one man’s improbable deliverance. Many embraced.
“It feels good for the country after the amount of devastation that they’ve experienced,” said Bradley, the L.A. County fire captain. “We’re excited that the people of Venezuela were able to see one of their own return home from under the rubble.”
Special correspondent Mogollón reported from La Guaira and Times staff writer McDonnell from Mexico City. Special correspondent Cecilia Sánchez Vidal contributed from Mexico City.
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