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People across Lebanon observed a minute of silence on Friday to mark a month since the devastating Beirut explosion, as rescuers dug through the rubble of a building destroyed by the blast, hoping to find a survivor.
The split-screen images reflect the pain and anguish that persists a month after the Aug. 4 explosion that killed 191 people, injured 6,000 others and traumatized Lebanon, already suffering from a severe economic crisis and financial collapse.
The search operation in the historic Mar Mikhail district, on a street that was once lined with crowded bars and restaurants, has gripped the nation for the past 24 hours. The possibility, although unlikely, that a survivor could be found after a month gave hope to people who followed the images live on television, wishing for a miracle.
The operation began on Thursday after a dog used by the Chilean search and rescue team TOPOS detected something while walking through Gemmayzeh and Mar Mikhail streets and hurtling into the rubble. Rescuers used cranes, shovels and their bare hands in a meticulous search after a pulsating signal was detected.
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Images of the 5-year-old black and white dog named Flash, wearing red shoes to protect his paws, circulated on social media and were trending on Twitter in Lebanon. People thanked the dog and said that he cared more for the Lebanese people than his own government.
Hussein Malla / AP
Rescuers search a building that collapsed in last month’s massive explosion that hit the Beirut seaport, after receiving signs that a survivor may be under the rubble in Beirut, Lebanon.
In front of Mar Mikhail, near the remains of the port of Beirut, a commemoration for the victims of the explosion was held in the presence of some of their relatives. The soldiers saluted and then placed a white rose for each of the 191 victims at a monument. The crowd fell silent at 6.08pm, the time of the most destructive explosion in Lebanon’s violent history.
Church bells rang, mosques called for prayers, and ambulances sounded their sirens simultaneously. Some people wept silently. Others held ropes tied like ropes, a sign of the pain and sheer anger towards officials that persists in the country.
Bilal Hussein / AP
On Thursday, a pulsing signal was detected under the rubble of a Beirut building that collapsed during the horrific port explosion in the Lebanese capital last month.
The explosion was caused by nearly 2,721 tons of ammonium nitrate that had been improperly stored in the port for years. In addition to the deaths and injuries, thousands of homes were damaged in the blast, which smashed windows and doors for miles and was felt on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus.
It is not yet clear what caused the fire that ignited the ammonium nitrate. The public blames the corruption and negligence of Lebanon’s politicians, judicial and security officials, many of whom knew about the storage of the chemicals and did nothing.
Hussein Malla / AP
A Chilean rescue dog sits near the site of a collapsed building after receiving signs that a survivor may be under the rubble.
“We will hold them accountable,” read a banner. A firefighting force set out from the headquarters in the direction of the port, marking the route that 10 of their comrades took as they rushed to put out the fire, but were killed.
The state has yet to provide any response on how such a thing could have happened, the investigation has been slow and ineffective, and no senior officials have been detained, although many of them were aware of the dangers and did not act for six years.
“I know rationally that a month has passed, but at a very visceral level it all feels like a long and bad day, that moment stretches for what seems like an eternity,” published Carmen Geha, activist and university professor. “I cannot rest, we cannot rest with the bodies still under the rubble. We need responsibility like air. ”
Hussein Malla / AP
A Chilean rescuer, right, and a Lebanese rescuer use a signal detection machine at the site of a collapsed building after receiving signals that a survivor may be under the rubble.
At the Mar Mikhail search site, rescue teams slowly removed debris from the building. The more they dug, the more careful the job became to protect anyone buried there. Later, a 360-degree camera attached to the end of a long pole was driven into a hole in the building. The images did not show any traces of humans in that particular section.
On Thursday, the team used audio equipment to try to listen for signals or heartbeats and detected what could be a pulse of 18 to 19 beats per minute. The origin of the pulsing sound was not immediately known, but it was enough to start the frantic search.
Hussein Malla / AP
Lebanese and Chilean rescuers search through the rubble of a collapsed building.
On Friday morning, the heartbeat dropped to seven per minute, according to a Chilean volunteer who spoke to local television station Al Jadeed. The head of the Chilean team, Francisco Lermanda, said he could neither confirm nor deny the presence of a person, living or dead, under the rubble and that the work would continue.
The Chilean group has been part of multiple international rescue efforts, including the 2010 earthquakes in Chile and the 2017 earthquakes in Mexico. He is credited with rescuing 14 people found after the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, one of them 28 days after the coup.
“From what I can understand from my Chilean colleagues, the search area is quite narrow,” said a French civil engineer who identified himself only as Emmanuel. He added that the search area is not very deep and is just above the ground floor vault.
“What we are looking for right now is probably a person” without much material, he said.
Hussein Malla / AP
The search for a possible survivor under the rubble has resumed.
The anger on the street was palpable, especially when the search was briefly suspended before midnight Thursday, apparently to find a tow truck.
Outraged protesters at the site claimed that the Lebanese army had asked the Chileans to stop the search. Reflecting the staggering mistrust of authorities, some protesters donned helmets and began searching, while others attempted to arrange for a tow truck.
“Where is your conscience? Is there life under this building and you want to stop work until tomorrow? ” A woman yelled at a soldier.
Members of the Lebanese Civil Defense team returned after midnight and resumed work.
The army issued a statement on Friday in response to the criticism, saying the Chilean team stopped working at 11:30 pm because they feared a wall would collapse. He added that army experts inspected the site and two cranes were brought in to remove the wall, after which the search was resumed.
The last few weeks have been extremely hot in Lebanon, with high humidity.
The Chilean team from time to time called people on the streets, including a group of journalists, to turn off their mobile phones and remain silent for five minutes so as not to interfere with their instruments.
Two days after the explosion, a French rescue team and volunteers from the Lebanese civil defense searched the same building, which had a bar on the ground floor. At the time, they had no reason to believe that someone was still on the site.
