A Month After Beirut’s Explosion: A Heartbeat Under The Rubble

What a whirlwind of emotions.

Beirut is currently on its toes, praying for the possibility of recovering and saving a living human from underneath the rubble in Mar Mikhael after a heartbeat was detected by rescue teams earlier today.

This comes 30 DAYS after the blast, it wasn’t until TOPOS CHILE, a worldwide leading rescue team, arrived to Lebanon, that a human heartbeat was detected.

Here’s how it happened:

– The Chilean rescue team arrived to Lebanon 3 days ago on their own expenses, with the help of local NGO Achrafieh 2020.

TOPOS CHILE, the team that detected a pulse/breathing under #Beirut’s rubble 30 days after blast, are world leaders in rescue efforts.

In 2010 they rescued a man in Haiti 27 days after an earthquake.

Team arrived in Lebanon 3 days ago w/ help from NGO Achrafieh 2020. pic.twitter.com/Cn9PdLvW3j

— Timour Azhari (@timourazhari) September 3, 2020

– They had been in Mar Mikhael and Gemmayze, assessing the damages, when a dog from their team ran to a collapsed building, alerting them of something.

– The rescue dog (border collie breed) is trained to identify possible human survivors, which alerted TOPOS CHILE to the possibility of victims under the collapsed building.

This is the trained dog that found two victims under the rubble in Mar Mikhael, one whose heartbeat was reportedly detected.

Photo by Akram Nehme. pic.twitter.com/3b2uTVeYFk

— Beirut.com (@BeirutCityGuide) September 3, 2020

– Using sensory machines, the rescue team was able to detect a faint heartbeat. They asked all press and citizens at the scene to turn their phones off and keep quiet as to not intercept their signal.

– Using thermal imagery, they located two victims. A large body who was declared dead, and a smaller body with a very faint heartbeat.

– Lebanese civil defense and the Chilean rescue team are now working together to clear out the rubble from the damaged building – something officials had a month to do, but still didn’t – to reach the victims.

Happening now: rescue teams attempting to clear out rumble after reports of two suspected victims trapped underneath. pic.twitter.com/l5kbivmx6l

— Beirut.com (@BeirutCityGuide) September 3, 2020

– The rescue teams confirm this mission could last until midnight. Nothing certain until then.

– People all over Lebanon, some doubtful, some hopeful, are waiting on a miracle.