Frantic search in rubble grips Lebanon
Nation marks a month since terrible explosion
BEIRUT — People throughout Lebanon observed a moment of silence Friday to mark one month since the devastating Beirut explosion, while rescuers dug through the rubble of a building destroyed in the blast, hoping to find a survivor.
The split-screen images reflected the pain and anguish that persists one month after the Aug. 4 blast, which killed 191 people, injured 6,000 others and traumatized Lebanon, which already was suffering under a severe economic crisis and financial collapse.
The search operation in the historic Mar Mikhail district, on a street once filled with crowded bars and restaurants, has gripped the nation. The possibility, however unlikely, that a survivor could be found after one month gave hope to people, who followed the live images on television, wishing for a miracle.
The operation began Thursday after a dog used by the Chilean searchand-rescue team TOPOS detected something as it toured Gemmayzeh and Mar Mikhail streets and rushed toward the rubble. Rescue workers used cranes, shovels and their bare hands in a meticulous search after a pulsing signal was detected.
Images of the black-and-white 5-year-old dog named Flash, wearing red shoes to protect its paws, circulated on social media and was trending on Twitter in Lebanon. People thanked the dog and said it cared more about the Lebanese people than their own government.
Across from Mar Mikhail, near the wreckage of Beirut’s port, a commemoration was held for the victims of the blast in the presence of some of their relatives. Soldiers fired a salute then laid a white rose for each of the 191 victims at a memorial. The crowd fell silent at 6:08 p.m., the moment of the most destructive explosion in Lebanon’s violent history.
Church bells tolled, mosques made a call for prayers and ambulances blared their sirens simultaneously. Some people wept silently. Others held ropes tied as nooses, a sign of grief and the raw anger toward officials that persists in the country.
At the Mar Mikhail search site, rescue workers slowly removed debris from the building. Later, a 360-degree camera at the end of a long pole was pushed into a hole in the building. Images did not turn up any trace of humans in that particular section.
On Thursday, the team used audio equipment to try to hear signals or a heartbeat 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 set off the frantic search.
On Friday morning, the number of beats dropped to seven per minute, according to a Chilean volunteer who spoke to local TV station Al Jadeed. The head of the Chilean team, Francisco Lermanda, said that he could not confirm or deny the presence of a person, dead or alive, under the rubble and that the work would continue.