No traces of life have been found in the ruins of a building in Beirut, despite earlier hopes of finding a survivor.
The search began on Thursday afternoon after a police dog discovered something in the Gemmayzeh area of the Lebanese capital.
Acoustic detectors detected a pulse of 18 to 19 beats per minute, which raised hope that someone was alive.
However, on Friday morning, it was reported that the signal had decreased to seven.
Rescuers said they are indicating that someone could be alive or in a coma – or it could just be an object sending a signal.
About 50 rescue workers and volunteers, including a specialized team from Chile, continued digging through the rubble for a third day on Saturday.
They curtailed their search, pledging to continue, although there was little chance of finding a survivor.
They used thermal imaging and scanning equipment as rescue teams removed debris, hand pits and shovels, taking care not to cause further injuries to any survivor.
“Always in searches like this one, you cannot lose hope nor ever say that there is hope,” said George Abu Musa, director of operations at the Lebanese Civil Defense.
Approximately 3000 tons of ammonium nitrate resulted in the release Explosion That tore Beirut on August 4, in one of the largest non-nuclear explosions ever recorded
About 190 people were killed, 6,000 wounded, and entire neighborhoods destroyed.
A Chilean rescue team confirmed that they had not found any traces of life under the rubble
The building that the researchers focused on is located in the area between the Gemmayzeh and Mar Mikhael areas, which were among the areas most affected by the explosion.
The area is home to several old buildings that collapsed in the shock wave, and the search had to be halted briefly on Thursday due to concerns about the unstable structure.
The army searched it and two cranes were brought to take it out.
Paper lanterns in the shape of a Lebanese flag marking the one-month anniversary of the explosion
The ceremony was held on Friday On the occasion of the passage of a month since the explosion In a city already suffering from a stifling economic crisis.
Days after last month’s explosion, more than 20 containers of ammonium nitrate were found in the port and taken to safe locations.
On Thursday, the military said it had found another 4.35 tons of the chemical compound in four containers near the port, and was under investigation.
And 25 people were arrested in connection with the explosion, most of them were port and customs officials.
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