‘Miracle’: Trapped man rescued eight days after Venezuela earthquakes | Stories About Earthquakes

A man has been rescued from a collapsed building eight days after two earthquakes devastated Venezuela.

Thursday’s rescue comes as attention has shifted from finding survivors to talking to people human needs among thousands of people who have been made homeless.

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About 60,000 homes were damaged or destroyed in last week’s earthquakes, which struck at magnitudes 7.2 and 7.5 respectively. About 13,000 people have been left homeless.

In its final statement, the Venezuelan government said at least 2,295 people had been killed, while 11,000 were injured. The death toll is expected to rise, with around 50,000 people reported missing.

But in a rare twist of hope, rescue workers were able to reach 43-year-old security guard Hernan Gil on Thursday, after days of trying to free him from the collapsed seven-story building where he worked on the Catia La Mar beach.

Gil had been found three days ago. Rescue teams from seven countries, including Venezuela, Chile, the United States, Portugal, Costa Rica, El Salvador and Mexico, worked to free him.

“This is truly a miracle,” Gil’s wife, Gusbimar Gonzalez, told AFP reporters.

Cristian Vera, head of the Chilean rescue team, told AFP that rescuers were able to dig a three-meter (9.8-foot) trench to get Gil out. They were able to give him water through a hose and an oxygen tube in the past few days.

He said: “It was not easy to get to the exact place where the person was.”

Reports from the government of La Guaira, Al Jazeera reporter, Zein Basravi, said that, although Gil’s recovery has given some families hope, countless attempts to save the country have ended in tragedy.

Most of the buildings that collapsed in La Guaira, north of Caracas, are already marked with the letter D for “dead”, indicating that no signs of life can be detected.

“An expert in search and rescue that we spoke to on the ground said that the footprints of this disaster are very large, there are 58,000 houses that have been damaged or destroyed, there are many places to search, and many days after the earthquake, it is very rare that anyone can be found alive,” said Basravi.

He said that the emergency response should “move from rescue and recovery to a very different phase of the disaster, which will see more humanitarian work, humanitarian work that is needed on the ground”.

Risk factors for health problems

Humanitarian workers have warned that the effects of the earthquake may cause a health problemssince understaffed hospitals may face cases of untreated injuries and infectious diseases.

Over the years, the country’s health system has been hampered by lack of basic medical equipment, trained personnel and energy.

The World Food Program has requested 50 million dollars to feed about 500,000 people for three months. The United Nations Development Program has put the cost of damage at $6.7bn, based on satellite images.

Several countries and local organizations have pledged to provide aid.

This includes $300m from the US, according to the State Department. The administration of US President Donald Trump, who impeached Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro earlier this year, will continue to support the country’s current president, Delcy Rodriguez, despite being criticized for being unprepared.

Reporting to Al Jazeera from Caracas, journalist Noris Soto said international aid would be “more than necessary” in the coming months and weeks.

“Venezuela has been struggling with economic problems for the past twenty years. So, if you add this disaster to the economic problems that the Venezuelan people have already suffered, they will need help for many years,” he said.