Little or no hope of finding survivors at Beirut blast site: Lebanese army

The Lebanese army said Sunday that hopes have dwindled of finding survivors at the blast site in Beirut following days of search and rescue operations supported by international experts.

“After three days of search and rescue operations we can say we have finished the first phase, which involved the possibility of finding survivors,” Colonel Roger Khoury told a press conference.

“As technicians working on the ground, we can say we have fading hopes of finding survivors,” added Khoury, who heads a team of military technicians operating at the blast site.

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Lebanon, a country already reeling from an unprecedented economic crisis, and a surge in coronavirus infections, was struck by the massive explosion at the Port of Beirut on Tuesday which killed at least 158 people and injured more than 6,000.

The huge chemical explosion that hit Beirut’s port, devastating large parts of the Lebanese capital, left a 43-meter (141 foot) deep crater, a security official said Sunday.

“The explosion in the port left a crater 43 meters deep” Tuesday, the official told AFP, citing reports by French experts conducting an assessment of the disaster area.

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