Watch | Venezuela earthquake survivor rescued alive from rubble after eight days

Rescue teams pulled a man alive from the rubble of a collapsed nine-story building in Venezuela on Thursday, eight days after powerful earthquakes devastated the country, offering a rare moment of hope amid the ongoing disaster.

Hernán Alberto Gil Flores, a 43-year-old security guard, was trapped beneath nearly 29 feet of debris after the parking structure of a shopping mall collapsed in La Guaira. Local and international rescue teams carried out a carefully coordinated operation over several days before bringing him to safety.

Gil has emerged as a symbol of hope for a country mourning one of the deadliest earthquakes in Latin American history.

A video shared by the Chile Fire Department captured the moment rescuers first spotted Gil using a search camera that was lowered into the collapsed basement on Wednesday.

The footage showed his fingers moving through a narrow gap between layers of concrete and debris, confirming he was still alive.

The Chile Fire Department described the rescue operation as "highly complex" because the damaged building remained unstable and rescue workers had to deal with falling debris throughout the mission.

Search continues as thousands remain missing

While Gil's rescue brought a rare success, emergency teams continue searching for survivors across the affected areas. The United Nations estimates that around 50,000 people are still missing.

On Wednesday, Venezuela's interim President Delcy Rodriguez declared seven days of national mourning after last week's twin earthquakes killed at least 3,000 people, injured more than 11,000 and left thousands of others unaccounted for.

The earthquakes, measuring 7.2 and 7.5 in magnitude, destroyed entire neighbourhoods in oil-rich Venezuela, where years of economic crisis had already weakened infrastructure and healthcare services. The disaster struck while the country remained in a fragile political transition, six months after the United States ousted leader Nicolas Maduro.

The World Food Programme has appealed for $50 million to provide food assistance to about 500,000 people in Venezuela over the next three months.