Emergency services are at work early Saturday in the center of Toulouse to ensure that no victims are trapped in the rubble of a building which collapsed in the middle of the night but had previously been emptied of its contents. occupants, firefighters said.
Around fifty firefighters are on site, accompanied by dog teams. During the night, they evacuated 23 people living in adjoining buildings, the Haute-Garonne Departmental Fire and Rescue Service (SDIS) told the press.
This three-story building on rue Saint-Rome, three blocks from the famous Toulouse Capitol, was evacuated on Tuesday following the first collapse of an interior wall, the SDIS then indicated.
After this immediate evacuation of residents, a major crack was detected by building risk specialists, and it was initially planned that the building would benefit from shoring carried out by a private company, according to the same source on Tuesday.
This busy shopping street in downtown Toulouse has been cut off since Tuesday around the building in question, causing concern among traders.
The debris from the damaged building – rubble, metal pipes and personal effects – flowed into the adjacent street in a spectacular way, an AFP photographer noted on the spot. The firefighters notably had to evacuate neighbors using ladders.
This collapse comes as the Toulouse metropolitan area was mourned on Monday by the collapse of a viaduct during construction of the metro, killing a worker and seriously injuring two others.