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Relief teams in Lebanon announced Saturday night that they had found “no sign of life” under the rubble of a building in a disaster-stricken area in Beirut, dampening hopes of finding a survivor. , a month after the great explosion in the port of the capital.
A team of Chilean rescuers, who assist in search operations, observed, on Wednesday night, a “heartbeat” under the rubble of a building, a trained dog accompanying him.
After operations to remove large amounts of debris continued for three days, Francesco Lermanda, a medical specialist in Chile, confirmed, on Saturday night, that there was no sign of life under the rubble of the building. “Unfortunately, today we can say that there are no signs of life in the destroyed building,” he told the media.
He explained that two paramedics entered a corridor that leads to a hole that was thought to be the place where a victim could be found on Saturday, but they did not find anyone.
Despite this, Lermanda indicated that work will continue to secure the area and ensure that no one is inside.
The Lebanese Civil Defense had previously reported that there was “little” hope of finding a possible survivor under the rubble of a building on Mar Mikhael Street.
Earlier on Saturday, Lebanese Civil Defense operations director George Abu Musa told AFP that “searches have been conducted since day one, but there is little chance” of finding a survivor.
The news about the possibility of finding a person alive raised the hopes of many, as the hashtag “Beirut Pulse” spread, full of prayers from observers and their calls to reach a survivor under the rubble, which then gradually diminished no signs of life were detected.
“We will not leave the site until we finish and search under all the rubble, even though the building is threatened with collapse,” Qassem Khater, one of the civil defense volunteers at the site, told France Press.
But hours later, the engineer supervising the operations, Riad Al-Asaad, explained that large amounts of debris had been removed, to no avail.
“We removed the first and second roofs and reached the stairs, finding nothing. The dog gave us hope, but that at the same time confirmed the flaw in the system. The rubble from this building should have been removed several weeks ago, ”he said.
The upper floors of the building, which housed a bar on its ground floor, were transformed into a pile of rubble as a result of the explosion on August 4, which made searches require precision and skill.
Lebanon does not have disaster management teams or advanced technical capabilities. Many countries rushed to send relief teams and technical assistance to help him after the explosion.
The explosion killed 191 people and injured more than 6,500 more. It also displaced 300,000 people, whose homes were damaged or destroyed. Seven are still missing, according to official estimates.
The World Bank estimated the damages and economic losses resulting from the explosion between $ 6.7 billion and $ 8.1 billion. The affected neighborhoods continue to heal their wounds. Volunteers, students, and non-governmental organizations are working hard to help residents repair their homes and distribute aid from around the world.
