The reason a mushroom cloud formed in Beirut 2:03
(CNN) -
A group from the Topos Chile, a non-governmental organization dedicated to rescue and humanitarian aid, detected breathing and heartbeats in the rubble left by the explosion in Beirut on Thursday.
Francisco Lermanda told CNN that the “team detected, it also detected the dog and for us these two symptoms, signs make us have to rule out.
What does that mean?
That we have to make tunnels to be able to penetrate the structure, get to the point and be able to discard or confirm the presence of a body or a living person inside.
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Lermanda explained that the point where a possible survivor was detected is about 2.4 meters deep from the slab and about 1.8 meters from the side of the building.
Lermanda added that they are digging three tunnels in order to have three options that allow them to reach the point and confirm or rule out whether there is a body or a survivor.
"It does not mean that there is someone alive or dead inside, they are clues that tell us that we have to get to that point and discard or confirm," he added.
“He doesn't know how long it will take, the tiles are very thick, the concrete is very strong and they cannot put in machines.
If we have the possibility of a living person we cannot put machines, press, hit or anything that could risk life.
It is a slow, meticulous and very technical job, "said Lermanda and assured that they will not leave the place until they can confirm or rule out that there are survivors."
Lermanda said that after digging 1 meter, the dog, Flash, who alerted rescue teams to the debris, alerted crews once more.
The rescuer said that while this does not necessarily mean a person is alive under the rubble, they will treat them as such until they can confirm or rule out.
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Lermanda added that the longest she has seen a person survive under the rubble was in Haiti, where a person was rescued alive after 28 days.
Beirut explosion
