Rescue team detects 'pulse' of possible survivor buried under Beirut rubble for 29 days

A border collie dog working with Chilean rescuers discovered a potential survivor of the Beirut port explosion on Thursday night, nearly a month after the blast. The trained rescue dog detected signs of life beneath the rubble of a destroyed building in the district of Gemmayzeh, sparking an intensive search. Up to two bodies were subsequently potentially detected by thermal imaging cameras, trapped below the rubble: one small curled up body and a larger one. The smaller body showed some vital signs, registering 18 breaths per minute, while a faint pulse could also be detected, the team said. Francisco Lermanda, the head of the Chilean Rescue team, told The Telegraph that he suspected whoever was trapped was in a coma. He predicted a long night ahead to reach the possible victim. The discovery was made 29 days after the huge explosion in Beirut's port, triggered when a huge quantity of ammonium nitrate stored for six years in a warehouse was ignited by a fire. The resulting blast killed nearly 200 people, injured 6,000, and caused a huge swathe of devastation across the city.

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