Two buildings collapse in Marseille; up to 10 people still under rubble
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Rescuers working at the scene where two buildings collapsed in the southern French port city of Marseille on April 9.
PHOTO: AFP
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MARSEILLE, France - As many as 10 people were thought to be under the rubble after an explosion that caused two residential buildings to collapse in the southern French city of Marseille on Sunday, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said.
The cause of the explosion was not yet known.
The collapse caused a fire that complicated rescue efforts and which Mr Darmanin said could take hours to put out. He said the authorities estimated there were between four and 10 people under the rubble.
Five people were taken to hospital with injuries that were serious but not life-threatening, and a sixth person was being treated for shock, he added.
A third building has partially collapsed and people have been evacuated from some 30 buildings in the area.
The buildings that collapsed on the Rue de Tivoli were not known to have any structural problems, Mr Darmanin said.
“Thoughts are with Marseille,” President Emmanuel Macron said in a Twitter message.
The city’s Mayor Benoit Payan told reporters: “(The fire) is extremely difficult to control... The firefighters are judging minute by minute how best to put out this fire because there are potentially people alive inside.”
The streets around the building were cordoned off and choked with dust. Firefighters could be seen attempting to work their way through the building debris.
“We are trying to speed up the (search and rescue operation) because time is of essence,” but the search dogs cannot keep up in the heat, said the commander of the Marseille marine firefighters, Mr Lionel Mathieu.
Rescuers at work at the scene where two buildings collapsed in the southern French port city of Marseille on April 9.
PHOTO: AFP
Regional prefect Christophe Mirmand told Agence France-Presse there were “strong suspicions” that an explosion caused the collapse, possibly a gas leak.
A late-night food vendor working on the street said “everything shook” during what sounded like an explosion.
“We saw people running and there was smoke everywhere,” said Mr Aziz, who declined to give his last name.
Mr Gilles, who lives on a side street near the fallen building, told AFP the sound of the crash “was huge”. “It sounded like an explosion,” said Mr Gilles, who declined to provide his last name.
An earlier major structural collapse occurred in Marseille in November 2018, when two dilapidated buildings in the working-class district of Noailles caved in, killing eight people.
The accident cast a spotlight on the city’s housing standards.
But the authorities appeared to rule out structural issues in the latest collapse, in a neighbourhood known for its bars and nightlife.
“There was no danger code for this building, and it is not in a neighbourhood identified as having substandard housing,” said Mr Mirmand. REUTERS, AFP
