Rescue teams from seven countries are inching towards a man who survived the twin earthquakes that struck Venezuela eight days ago.
Emergency workers located security guard Hernán Gil on Saturday beneath the ruins of a multi-storey car park in Catia La Mar, but have only been able to make visual contact with him in the last hours.
Despite being buried under nine-metre-deep, highly unstable rubble, rescuers say that Gil, who is in his 40s, is “in good spirits” and cheering them on.
His wife has described his survival as “a miracle”. 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.
Around 350 rescuers have been working against the clock to free Gil since he was located more than 100 hours ago.
Teams from Venezuela, Chile, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Mexico, Portugal and the United States are on the ground trying to free him.
Parts of the access ducts they built to reach him have collapsed several times, highlighting the dangers the work poses to the rescuers as well as Gil.
Overnight, the search teams were finally able to establish visual contact with Gil.
In footage recorded by a small camera inserted into the rubble where Gil is trapped, a Chilean firefighter can be heard asking Gil to turn his head towards the camera.
One of his eyes is bloodshot and he is wearing a face mask, which rescuers had earlier passed to him through a small hole to protect him from the dust and debris created by their efforts to free him.
The firefighter also asks him to don goggles to protect his eyes as rescuers continue to carefully dig away at the rubble surrounding him.
