Rescue teams in Lebanon on Saturday said there was no sign of life underneath the rubble of a building that collapsed following a massive explosion in Beirut on August 4, AFP reported. The search was initiated after sensor readings showed a pulse beneath the rubble from last month’s blast. The blast that rocked Beirut city centre last month had killed about 190 people and injured more than 6,000. It had also left several people homeless and seven people are still listed as missing.

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On Wednesday night, a sniffer dog deployed by Chilean rescuers detected a scent beneath a collapsed building in the heavily damaged Gemmayzeh neighbourhood adjacent to the port. High-tech sensors confirmed an apparent heartbeat and rescue teams took up the search, but to no avail.

“Sadly, today we can say that technically we have no sign of life inside the building,” said Chilean rescue specialist Francesco Lermanda after three days of rescue work.

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Lebanon lacks the tools and expertise to handle advanced search and rescue operations, so they have been supported by experts from Chile, France and the Unites States. The Chileans, in particular, have been praised as heroes by many Lebanese on social media, who have compared their expertise with the lacklustre performance of what they see as their own absent state. The country observed a minute’s silence for the dead on Friday