ISLAMABAD, Oct 12: There was no good news at the sandwiched multi-storey Margalla Towers building site on Wednesday. Only dead bodies and limbs were recovered from the mountain of debris.

But the British rescuers at work there have not lost hope.

Men and gigantic machines of the army engineering corps were at work from dawn to dusk, searching and digging through tons of concrete rubble for survivors. One body of an aged man was recovered around noon and then another body of a young woman was recovered late in the evening. Some human limbs were also recovered during the day, a volunteer doctor told Dawn.

As rubble and web of iron and steel was removed with help of merciless machines, human flesh and blood mingled with brick and mortar. Mattresses, blankets, clothes and other personal belongings of the victims also stood exposed. It included a black jacket of a pilot. Cranes, dumpers, cutters and bulldozers moved in full force to clear the debris little by little, piercing through concrete and iron to get access to the trapped victims.

It was a slow and tedious process, requiring iron nerves and perseverance. It was the fifth day of the building collapse and the face masks did not help much as the stench of dead bodies spread.

Several times amidst deafening and roaring sound of these heavy duty machines came abrupt moments of silence following full- throated commands by the army and civil defence men involved in the rescue operations. Silent, Khamosh (quiet), they shouted on detecting some sign of life or death. The commands would follow a queue from the sensors being used by the British rescue team.

The calls would be responded to instantly with pin drop silence. Hopes would suddenly go up, stretchers and white bed sheets rushed to the spot identified and ambulances mobilised.

Numerous men and women, working as volunteers, including rescue workers, doctors and paramedics have been at their feet round the clock helping the 25-member British rescue team. A six-member team of the UN Military Observers Group has also joined in with its equipment and expertise for the last three days.

Towards the end of the day when no survivor was evacuated a member of the British team and an army official opened up a map of the building apartments discussing other possibilities of trying to save those who may still be trapped inside.