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French say no more signs of life in Indonesia hotel rubble

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AP Palu (Indonesia)

French rescuers say they have been unable to find the possible sign 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 French organization Pompiers de l'urgence said late 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.

But after an hour of searching Friday morning, team member Philip Besson said they couldn't find the signal again. He didn't give further details. Local rescuers were continuing to dig at the site.

 

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First Published: Oct 05 2018 | 8:25 AM IST

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