Pulled from the Rubble
Venezuela quake survivor pulled out alive after eight days A man has been rescued alive after being trapped for eight days in the rubble of a building that collapsed after twin earthquakes in Venezuela. Emergency workers managed to free Hernán Gil more than 100 hours after they had first located him under 140 tonnes of rubble. A Chilean firefighter had earlier described the rescue operation as "without doubt the most complex and technically difficult which I've had to tackle". Almost 2,300 people are confirmed to have died in the quakes which hit Venezuela on 24 June, and tens of thousands are still missing. Allan Madrigal, a paramedic with the Costa Rican Red Cross, told journalists at the site that Gil had "emerged just perfect" from the ordeal. Madrigal is the rescuer who heard Gil's faint cries for help emerging from the rubble on Sunday. "It was an emotional moment," he recalled, explaining that at first he had not trusted his own ears and ask...