Venezuela's deadliest quake in a century: survivor pulled from rubble after eight days as toll passes 3,300

The double quake

At roughly 6:04 pm local time on June 24, a 7.2-magnitude earthquake hit the coastline, followed within seconds by an even stronger tremor. The twin quakes levelled buildings in Caracas, La Guaira, and Catia La Mar. The Ritasol Palace, an eleven-storey apartment block in the seaside suburb of Caraballeda, collapsed entirely, burying residents in the basement. As of Sunday, the confirmed death toll stood at 3,342, with bodies still concealed in debris and the number expected to rise.

Eight days in darkness

Hernán Gil, a 43-year-old security guard, was trapped under a collapsed multi-storey building in Catia La Mar. Stones struck his head as the second quake hit. "I lost consciousness for a moment. When I came to, everything was dark, and from then on everything was uncertain," he told AFP. On Thursday, eight days after the quake, rescue teams pulled him alive from the rubble.

I was reborn.

A son's rescue

In La Guaira, Jose Garcia, a 46-year-old car mechanic, was at home with his two younger sons when the building came down. They were trapped in the basement. His eldest son, Jesus Garcia, a 26-year-old former firefighter, rushed to the ruins. A family friend had kept his helmet and jacket. Jesus heard his father shouting, "Don't leave me here." He managed to free them.

He was one of the heroes who rescued me.

Alone amid the rubble

International rescue teams have arrived, but survivors describe a shortage of government aid. Gonzalo, a resident searching for the trapped, told the BBC:

As Venezuelans right now we cannot afford to stop and process. We are stuck in the loop of helping, helping, helping, helping, helping. We have to get each other out, which is a beautiful thing. But the painful thing is that it's just a sign of how alone we are. How destroyed the network of this country is and that is the most desolating part of it all.