After eight days trapped beneath the rubble, a 43-year-old security guard has been rescued alive from a collapsed shopping center in Venezuela following the devastating twin earthquakes that hit the country. Hernán Alberto Gil Flores survived inside his security booth, which created a pocket of air as the building collapsed around him. International rescue teams worked for days to reach him after first making contact over the weekend. 

Rescuers from Costa Rica, Chile, the United States, Portugal and Mexico took part in the operation. One Costa Rican rescuer said Gil Flores initially asked them not to tell his wife he was alive "just in case he wouldn't make it." He was safely pulled from the rubble early on Thursday.