Translated from the original Spanish field notes by Jesús Valdez.
On the fifth day, my mobility was limited because I had injured an ankle from the fatigue accumulated over several days and the hot weather conditions. I decided to remain in Caracas and support two relevant points: first, the building where they were trying to rescue Mr. Hernán, and second, a collapse site at the beach where the Cancún team was working. After that, I would provide remote support by Wi-Fi.
At the shopping center, they reported that they had advanced very quickly through the debris from the point indicated by the structural engineers and were already 1.5 meters from Mr. Hernán, to whom they had been able to provide water and food, since he did not have internal injuries. After my inspection, there was not much more to do there, only to wait for the rescuers’ work. At the other point, the Cancún team was evaluating a structure with a water tank, where they were searching for people based on reports from neighbors and relatives. There was not much more to do there either. I returned to Caracas early on this occasion, which was a relief for my ankle.
On the way back, I was able to establish contact with a former president of the Venezuelan Chamber of Commerce to discuss his contacts with state and national government officials. We ate with entrepreneurs from the oil and commerce industries and established some commitments for participation in future components of post-earthquake recovery programs that Miyamoto International may coordinate.
I was in communication with Dr. Miyamoto, discussing the gaps in disaster response, the level of damage observed, types of construction, the level of construction technique in housing, and other issues, since they are configuring a program to respond to the disaster.
Remotely, I continued giving USAR groups suggestions for cutting a water tank on the roof of a collapsed building, where neighbors indicated that there were many people alive under the debris. The Cancún USAR group sent me images and explanations so I could guide them. They were able to remove the tank with the support of a crane. This was very similar to what we did at the collapsed building in Mexico City where I met Dr. Miyamoto: cutting structural elements and removing them with a crane in order to continue the search with less weight and greater stability.
At the time of writing this, on the night of July 1, I had still not been informed whether their search objective had been achieved.
This time in Caracas helped me catch up on some matters for the Mexico office, since we have had a low level of activity and need to make some cash-flow decisions.
I went to sleep with my body recovered, but I remained attentive to the rescue of Mr. Hernán, the shopping center security guard who was still trapped under hundreds of tons of debris.
The Costa Rica team detected Mr. Hernán through calling and listening. He responded to the call, and they were able to locate him. With sound equipment, they were able to have a conversation with him. However, in the area where they heard him, there was a fractured concrete beam. Above it was a V-shaped collapse of the apartment module that had overturned onto that part of the building, where Mr. Hernán’s booth was located.
According to the Costa Rican leader’s evaluation, that represented structural risk, and they decided to penetrate from another side, where the vehicle ramp was located. With more advanced equipment, sonar detected that from one side or the other they were 5.5 meters from the objective. The logical choice for the Costa Rican leader was to enter from the side he evaluated as safest.
At the site, he said he had command because his group had located Hernán, and the other groups initially respected his strategy. However, the regional command post established in the area by INSARAG assigned the incident to Chile, with support from the Mexican Red Cross, Portugal, the United States, and others.
They continued respecting Costa Rica’s strategy, but Joe Carry, an engineer from California whom I met at AO286, arrived at the site. He evaluated that it was easier to access through the area of the fractured beam, but recommended shoring with wood.
That was at nearly 90 hours. At that moment, the Red Cross sent me a message asking me to support them. It was the first assignment they had. As soon as I could, I reached them at the site. By then, engineer Ignacio Saenz from Chile, the one in the photo, had already evaluated the risk.
I entered with the Red Cross operations leader and recorded an almost 20-minute video of my inspection. I verified the fractured elements. The Red Cross had already installed laser monitoring equipment to alert for additional deformation, but nothing had been shored.
They had lost about 40 hours without shoring, as Joe Carry had told them to do. When I came out, I gave my point of view to Manolo, the Red Cross leader. I asked him whether Costa Rica had command, because I could see that the Costa Rican only wanted to convince me to continue the same way.
He told me no, that the assignment belonged to Chile. So I said, “Then why the hell don’t they take command and correct this? From the side where they want to access, they’ll get there in a month.”
At that moment, engineer Ignacio Saenz from the Chilean team arrived. Without saying a word to me, the Red Cross USAR team asked him about the area where passage was most likely.
He agreed about 90 percent with everything I had just told the Red Cross leader. That was when Manolo became furious and spoke with the Chilean commander.
He convinced him to take definitive command and change the strategy. The USAR leader commented that, if Costa Rica refused, they would be reported to INSARAG for removal. That is how the access strategy was changed.
A Venezuelan volunteer approached, looking tired but very emotional, and said that after this he wanted to dedicate himself to rescuing lives and asked how he could learn and help from that moment on.
I told him that if he wanted to support the work, he could do so by joining the Chilean team. Engineer Ignacio was there, and he told him to speak with him in a few minutes.
Because that Venezuelan had witnessed our entire conversation and saw how, in our very Mexican way of speaking, we managed to change the course of action, he said to me: “Venezuelans are louder and more expressive, but wow, when a Mexican gets angry, you really are scary, man. I would not want to be the guy from Costa Rica.”
I left the care point a few minutes later, since engineer Ignacio had engineering command on site. I made myself available for any questions. Lastly, I explained to him what had been done at AO286. He told me it was similar and that it helped give him greater certainty.
The following day, I visited the site again, conducted another inspection, and saw that it was already shored. That can be seen in the photos.
It was already stable, and they were already making a tunnel through the point we indicated. Even the United States team returned, since they had aborted their mission after encountering the Costa Rican team.
They told me they were already 1.5 meters from reaching him and had been able to pass him water. That revived Hernán and gave him strength to continue.
More than 140 hours had already passed. By the night of July 1, only 30 centimeters remained, but it was difficult to open the hole to extract him.
It had to be made larger, which required 12 or 13 more hours. They managed to extract him at 183 hours, today, July 2, at around 9:00 a.m.
The United States team made the final perforations. First, they tried to remove him through an opening, but an arm would not fit. So they continued drilling until they reached the upper part of the booth, which they perforated. With a larger opening, he was finally able to get out.
The Portugal, Mexico, and United States teams alternated in excavating the tunnel.
