Lebanese rescuers found traces of life yesterday in the ruins of a building in a residential area of Beirut that collapsed in the August 4 huge explosion 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 spotted a movement under a damaged building in the Gemagize area of Beirut, one of the Lebanese capital's neighborhoods that had been hit hardest by the blast.
"These (signs of breathing and pulse) along with the temperature sensor mean there is a chance of life," rescuer Andy Bitar told reporters at the scene. Rescuers climbed onto the rubble pile of the demolished building and threw floodlights on the spot as the sun ate. 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 assist with the investigation with additional equipment.
Local media reported that any search and rescue operation, if found to be alive and / or under the rubble, could take hours.
At the same time, the Lebanese army announced that it had located 4,35 tons of ammonium nitrate near the entrance of the port of Beirut. Army engineers "have taken over the treatment of the material," according to an army statement broadcast by the state-run NNA news agency. The Lebanese armed forces stressed that the chemicals were found outside the port No. 9 of the port.
The devastating August 4th bombing that devastated the city killed about 190 people. Authorities said it was caused by about 2.750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate that had been stored for years in precarious conditions at a port warehouse. The blast destroyed entire neighborhoods, destroyed buildings and injured 6.000 people.
Source: KYPE
