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Signs of life detected under rubble a month after Beirut blast, says rescuer

A rescue team searches through rubble of damaged buildings due to the massive explosion at Beirut's port area, in Beirut, Lebanon September 3, 2020. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir

Lebanese rescue workers detected signs of life on Thursday in the rubble of a building in a residential area of Beirut that had collapsed after a huge Aug. 4 explosion at the nearby port, a rescue worker said.

He was speaking after the state news agency reported a team with a rescue dog had detected movement under a destroyed building in the Gemmayze area of Beirut, one of the worst-hit by the blast.

“These (signs of breathing and pulse) along with the temperature sensor means there is a possibility of life,” rescue worker Eddy Bitar told reporters at the scene.

Rescue workers in bright jackets clambered over the building that had collapsed in the blast, which killed about 190 people and injured 6,000 others.

The rescue team were setting up floodlights at the site as the sunset. One rescue worker carried a rescue dog onto the mound of smashed masonry.

Bitar said a civil defence unit had been called in to help with extra equipment to conduct the search.

Local media said any search and rescue effort if it became clear that someone was still alive, was likely to take hours.*

Source:(Reuters)