[ad_1]
Eight people did not respond to calls and are believed to be under the rubble of two buildings that collapsed in an explosion early Sunday in the southern French city of Marseille, local officials said.
The cause of the explosion is not yet known, Marseille prosecutor Dominique Laurens said.
The collapse caused a fire that complicated rescue efforts and the investigation, and it has not yet been brought under control, he told a press conference.
Television footage showed clouds of smoke rising from the wreckage as firefighters tried to put out the blaze, while trained dogs were used to try to find victims.
“We have nothing, not even an ID card. We have lost everything,” said the man, who gave his name only as Roland, in an interview with the local newspaper La Provence. He managed to get out of the building at 15 Rue de Tivoli with his wife and two children before it collapsed, along with the neighboring building.
The third building partially collapsed.
Five people were taken to hospital with serious but non-life threatening injuries.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, who visited the site, said 30 buildings in the area were evacuated.
In 2018, about one kilometer from Sunday’s tragedy, three buildings deemed unsuitable for housing collapsed, killing eight people.
Marseille’s mayor said no parallels could be drawn, while prosecutors said the building that collapsed on Sunday was not known to have structural problems.
“Thoughts are with Marseille,” President Emmanuel Macron said in a Twitter message.
[ad_2]
Source link