Traces of life found in building rubble a month after deadly explosion in Beirut

Lebanese rescuers today found traces of life in the ruins of a building in a residential area of ​​Beirut that collapsed in the large explosion on August 4 in a nearby port, one of the rescuers said.

Earlier, the state news agency reported that a rescue team with a search and rescue dog had detected movement under a damaged building in the Gemagize area of ​​Beirut, one of the neighborhoods of the Lebanese capital that had been hardest hit. by the explosion.

“These (breathing and pulse signs) along with the temperature sensor mean there is a possibility of life,” rescuer Eddie Bitar told reporters at the scene.

Rescuers climbed onto the pile of rubble from the demolished building and threw spotlights at the scene as the sun set. A rescue worker and a rescue dog climbed to the top of the crumbling masonry.

Bitar said a civil protection unit was called in to help with the investigation with additional equipment.

Local media reported that any search and rescue operation, if found alive and / or under the rubble, could take hours.

4.35 tons of ammonium nitrate were found near the entrance to the Beirut port.

Meanwhile, the Lebanese army announced today that it had located 4.35 tons of ammonium nitrate near the entrance to the port of Beirut.

Army engineers “have taken over the processing of the material,” according to an army statement issued by the state news agency NNA. The Lebanese armed forces noted that the chemicals were found outside the port’s No. 9 port.

The devastating Aug. 4 bombing that devastated the city killed about 190 people. Authorities said it was caused by some 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate that had been stored for years in precarious conditions in a port warehouse.

The explosion destroyed entire neighborhoods, destroyed buildings and injured 6,000 people.

Source: ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ