Man rescued alive after 8 days trapped in Venezuela earthquake rubble

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.

Hundreds of rescuers had been working against the clock to free Gil.

Teams from Venezuela, Chile, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Mexico, Portugal and the United States helped to free him.

Parts of the access ducts rescuers built to reach him 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 was trapped, a Chilean firefighter could be heard asking Gil to turn his head towards the camera.

One of his eyes was bloodshot and he was 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 asked him to don goggles to protect his eyes as rescuers continue to carefully dig away at the rubble surrounding him.

Gil had been on duty in a small concrete booth in the basement of the parking lot adjacent to the Galerias Playa Grande mall in Catia La Mar when the twin quakes struck.

It appears that the booth created a shell around him, protecting him from the 140 tonnes of rubble which collapsed around and on top of him.

With additional reporting by BBC Mundo contributor Nicole Kolster in Catia La Mar.