French searchers say no more signs of life in rubble of Indonesia hotel
126 views · Published 10 October 2018 · 1:39 · Indexed 29 September 2026
Channel: AP Archive · 2018 · News & Politics
(5 Oct 2018) French rescuers said Friday they have been unable to make out any signs of life they detected a day earlier under the rubble of a hotel that collapsed in the earthquake a week ago on Indonesia's Sulawesi island. The five-member team from the French organization Pompiers De L'Urgence Internationale (PUI) said late on Thursday its life-searching sensor "detected the presence of a victim" under thick concrete in the wreckage of the Mercure Hotel in Palu. The device can pick up breathing and heartbeats, but the team also cautioned gas leaks and other factors can result in false positives. The team stopped digging overnight and after an hour of searching on Friday morning, team member Philip Besson said they couldn't find the signal again. Local rescuers were continuing to dig at the site. The death toll from Friday's 7.5 magnitude earthquake that spawned a tsunami has risen to 1,558, with scores more believed buried in deep mud and under debris of collapsed buildings and homes. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/ You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/fff30a9c49ba1238ed132ffe64c5838d
