- A building collapsed in the center of the French port city of Marseille on Sunday night.
- Two people were found lifeless under the rubble, according to the fire department, according to media reports.
- Five people from neighboring buildings were injured.
- Previously, eight missing people were mentioned.
A day after a building collapsed in the city center of the southern French port city of Marseille, the lifeless bodies of two people were discovered. On Sunday evening, Marseille’s prosecutor Dominique Laurens spoke of eight missing people: “Eight people lived in the building and it is these eight people that we currently have no news of.”
People would not have answered calls. Relatives had contacted the authorities with concern. Five people from neighboring buildings were injured in the collapse. About 30 houses were evacuated as a precaution.
The fire brigade has been on site since shortly before 1:00 a.m. There was a fire under the rubble, which made rescue work difficult. Marseille Mayor Benoît Payan told BFMTV that there was still hope of rescuing people alive, but it was low.
Those buried are likely to be older people
According to the public prosecutor, those who are believed to have been buried are mostly older people and a couple in their 30s. Children were probably not in the building. A man from a neighboring house could also be under the rubble. His ex-girlfriend stated that she did not reach him after the accident.
A house on Rue Tivoli in Marseille’s fifth arrondissement collapsed shortly after midnight on Sunday. Parts of the neighboring houses also collapsed. A few hours later, the house next to it collapsed completely.
The reason for the collapse was probably an explosion. “At the moment it is impossible to state the reasons for this explosion because the surveyor (…) has not yet been able to enter the site because of the obvious risks,” said prosecutor Laurens. The situation has not yet stabilized. After the collapse, fire broke out under the rubble. Because people are suspected to be under the rubble, the fire brigade cannot extinguish the flames with foam and water as usual.
Temperatures too high for sniffer dogs
Because of the high temperatures and the smell of burning, the sniffer dogs can also not search well for the buried people. The situation has not yet stabilized. The house and neighboring buildings were not known to be dilapidated or in danger of collapsing.
The incident on Easter night and fears about possibly buried people caused horror in France. The broadcaster BFMTV saw shocked residents who spoke of a loud bang and screams. French head of state Emmanuel Macron wrote on Twitter that he was thinking of all those affected and their families. Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne was also dismayed on Twitter.