Lebanon: Underground shelter found in Beirut port as search for survivors continues

An underground shelter has been unearthed in Beirut’s port today sparking hope workers caught in the area during the explosion may have survived, as the search for people trapped in the rubble continues.

According to a Sky News report, rescue workers have unearthed a type of “panic room” that appears to be part of a “labyrinth of subterranean chambers”, despite the government denying any knowledge of such underground shelters.

The discovery has renewed hopes that people may have managed to survive by taking refuge in the underground shelters which were reportedly built decades ago in the case of “bomb attacks or disasters” and appear to have withstood the massive explosion last week.

Tuesday’s blast, which was caused when 2,750 ammonium nitrate caught light and exploded, has reduced the country’s main port to rubble and severely damaged the surrounding districts. More than 200 people were killed in the explosion while over 6,000 were severely injured and hundreds remain missing.

READ: Lebanon puts port authorities under house arrest

Dozens of the missing include port employees who were in the vicinity when the explosion took place and the family of Ghassan Hasrouty, who had worked in the port for 38 years, are holding out hope they are still alive, according to the Sky News report.

Despite the discovery of the potential network of underground shelters, however, the Lebanese Army said yesterday there was little or no hope of finding more survivors.

“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 said during a press conference yesterday.

Adding, “as technicians working on the ground, we can say we have fading hopes of finding survivors,” according to the New Arab.

Meanwhile, Colonel Vincent Tissier, head of the French search and rescue team, said his group had “worked non-stop for 48 hours from Thursday morning” attempting to reach the control room where eight or nine port authority employees were thought to be trapped.

“Unfortunately, we did not find a single… survivor,” Tissier said, adding that his team, alongside others, had only recovered five corpses.

READ: Three Egyptians reportedly killed in Beirut blast