Race Against Time: International Rescue Teams Fight to Free Trapped Guard in Venezuela's Quake Zone
Nearly a week after two back-to-back earthquakes jolted northern Venezuela, international rescue crews — including specialists from the United States — are racing against the clock to free survivors still buried under the rubble. Among the most urgent cases is 44-year-old security guard Hernan Gil Flores, who has been trapped for six days beneath a partially collapsed 10-story building in the coastal city of La Guaira.
“It is a very complex rescue,” said Manny Sampang, a task force leader from the Los Angeles County Fire Department who is assisting local teams. “I have multiple buildings leaning into that building that we are trying to rescue him from.”
Rescuers believe Gil Flores remains inside the security booth of the building’s underground parking garage. The operation has been painstakingly slow, with crews constantly assessing the risk of additional collapses. His wife, Gusbimar Gonzalez, told CBS News that rescuers have managed to make contact with him, confirmed he is not injured and have been able to pass him water through small openings in the debris.
The earthquakes — a 7.5 magnitude tremor followed within a minute by a 7.2 magnitude aftershock — struck just after 6 p.m. local time on June 24, leveling hundreds of structures along Venezuela’s northern coast. As of Tuesday, the confirmed death toll had surpassed 1,900, and the United Nations reports that tens of thousands of people remain unaccounted for.
Amid the devastation, there have been glimmers of hope. Rescuers pulled an 18-day-old baby and his mother from a collapsed high-rise after they were trapped for 32 hours. In another dramatic rescue, a mother and her 9-month-old infant were extracted with only minor injuries, according to Virginia Urban Search and Rescue Task Force 1. Venezuelan officials say approximately 6,400 people have been rescued so far.
NASA satellite imagery suggests nearly 59,000 buildings across the affected region were either damaged or completely destroyed. The UN estimates that 1.8 million people — including roughly 700,000 children — are now in urgent need of humanitarian aid.
The worst devastation is concentrated in La Guaira, a port city just north of Caracas. The destruction has displaced entire communities. Marianae Hernandez, a resident whose home was destroyed, told CBS News she has nothing left. She, her mother and her three children are now living in tents.
“I’m trying to be strong because I have children and I don’t like them to see me cry,” she said. “What we are going through right now is very difficult.”
With critical infrastructure in ruins and aftershocks still possible, rescue teams face an increasingly narrow window to find survivors. The international effort underscores both the scale of the disaster and the resilience of those waiting for help beneath the rubble.