A rescue worker said that teams combing debris from buildings that collapsed in a residential area in Beirut after the port explosion last month, today, Thursday, detected indications of neighborhoods under the rubble, while the Lebanese army found more than 4 tons of ammonium nitrate near the entrance to the Beirut port, which witnessed an explosion Huge amount of this substance stored last month.

The rescue worker’s comments came after the official news agency reported that a team of rescuers, with a trained dog, monitored movement under a collapsed building in the Gemmayzeh area in Beirut, one of the areas most affected by the explosion.

Paramedic Eddy Bitar told reporters that monitoring signs of breathing, pulse and signals on body temperature sensors means that there is a possibility of survivors.

Summoning a civil defense unit to assist with additional equipment to conduct the search (Getty Images)

Rescue workers climbed the rubble of the collapsed building in the explosion, which killed 190 people and injured 6,000 on August 4.

The rescue team installed floodlights at the site as the sun went down, and one of the rescuers carried a rescue dog over a pile of rubble.

Bitar said that a civil defense unit was called in to assist with additional equipment to conduct the search.

And local media reported that if any search and rescue efforts concluded that there were still survivors, rescuing them would likely take hours.

Houses damaged in the Beirut Port explosion (Al-Jazeera)

Resignation and anger

The Lebanese government has resigned amid popular anger in a country already under the weight of an economic crisis, while public opinion remains concerned about the possibility that more hazardous materials are stored in a bad way, which puts them at risk.

This comes while the National Information Agency quoted an army statement, stating that units of the Engineering Regiment are working to "process" the quantity that was disclosed, estimated at 4.35 tons.

The statement added that chemicals were found outside the port near Entrance No. 9.

The explosion at the port on August 4 killed about 190 people, and the authorities said it was caused by storing about 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate in unsafe conditions in a warehouse in the port for years.

The blast flattened entire neighborhoods, destroying buildings and injuring 6,000 people.

Efforts and efforts

In a context related to political developments, Lebanese sources said today, Thursday, that the director of French intelligence, Bernard Emie, joined efforts to push Lebanon to form a new government and implement reforms, which supports the efforts of French President Emmanuel Macron to save the country from a devastating economic crisis.

Macron is at the forefront of international efforts to pressure rival Lebanese politicians to address a crisis seen as the biggest threat to Lebanon's stability since the civil war that raged from 1975 to 1990.

During his visit to Lebanon on Tuesday, Macron gave Lebanese politicians until the end of next October to start implementing reforms, warning that they might face sanctions if corruption prevents it.

Emier, who was France's ambassador to Lebanon from 2004 to 2007, was appointed director of intelligence shortly after Macron took power in 2017.

"Yes, the French intelligence director is following up on all the files that Macron raised during his last visit, and for this purpose he is communicating with many Lebanese officials of all affiliations, following them step by step, and urging them to expedite the implementation of reforms," ​​a senior Lebanese official said.

Aimee was appointed ambassador to Lebanon after he was an advisor to the late French President Jacques Chirac, and he was in the position at the time of the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri - a close friend of Chirac - in 2005.

Diplomats say that he played an important role in the efforts to remove the Syrian forces from Lebanon, after they entered it during the civil war and did not leave in the aftermath.

Emmier is one of several French officials following up matters with the Lebanese factions, and the sources said that among these officials is Emmanuel Bonn, Macron's chief diplomatic adviser and the former ambassador of France in Beirut.