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No sign of life has been found among the rubble of a building in Beirut, despite previous hopes that a survivor could be found.
The search began Thursday afternoon after a sniffer dog detected something in the Gemmayze area of the Lebanese capital.
Audio detection equipment had detected a pulse of 18 to 19 beats per minute, raising hope that someone might be alive.
However, on Friday morning, the signal was reported to have dropped to seven.
Rescuers had said it suggested someone could be alive or in a coma, or it could simply be an object that emits a signal.
About 50 rescuers and volunteers, including a team of specialists from Chile, continued digging through the rubble for a third day on Saturday.
They narrowed their search, promising to continue, even though there was only a slim chance of finding a survivor.
They used thermal imaging and scanning equipment as rescue teams cleared away debris, digging with their hands and shovels, careful not to cause further injury to survivors.
The explosion in Beirut killed about 190 people and injured thousands
“Always in search operations like this, you can’t give up hope or say absolutely that there is hope,” said George Abou Moussa, director of operations for Lebanon’s civil defense.
Almost 3,000 tons of ammonium nitrate triggered the explosion which swept through Beirut on August 4 in one of the largest non-nuclear explosions ever recorded.
It killed about 190 people, injured 6,000 and devastated entire neighborhoods.
A Chilean rescue team confirmed that they found no signs of life in the rubble
The building the searchers focused on is between the residential districts of Gemmayze and Mar Mikhael, which are among the hardest hit by the blast.
The area is home to many old buildings that collapsed when the shock wave broke through, and the search had to pause briefly Thursday due to concerns about the unstable structure.
It was inspected by the army and two cranes were brought in to remove it.
Paper lanterns in the shape of the Lebanese flag marked a month since the explosion
The ceremonies were held on Friday to marks one month since the explosion stormed into a city already reeling from a crippling economic crisis.
Days after last month’s explosion, more than 20 containers of ammonium nitrate were found in the port and moved to safe locations.
On Thursday, the army said it had found another 4.35 tonnes of the chemical compound in four containers near the port, which are being investigated.
A total of 25 people have been arrested in the explosion, most of them port or customs officials.
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