MARSEILLE: An apartment building collapsed in an apparent explosion on Sunday in the Mediterranean city of Marseille in France, injuring five people, with authorities warning up to ten victims could be under the burning rubble.
Aziz, a local grocer, told AFP, asking not to use his family name, that the explosion shook everything, people could be seen running and smoke everywhere, and the apartment building fell onto the street.
Marseille mayor Benoit Payan, while talking to reporters, warned of possible fatalities in the terrible tragedy.He was talking at the scene where over one hundred firefighters were trying to extinguish an hours-long blaze.
It was unclear how many people were inside the collapsed apartment at the time of the collapse at around 12:40 am local time (2240 GMT).The interior minister Gerald Darmanin said there were between 4 and 10 people trapped under the rubble.He said that it was unknown whether they were dead. Authorities had yet to discover why the “huge blast” prompted the fall.
Marseille apartment tragedy injured people in nearby buildings
Five people were wounded in neighboring buildings damaged by the collapsed apartment.The heat as the building burned did not allow search dogs to pick through the rubble, with Darmanin saying it could take several hours, maybe even longer, before the fire was extinguished.Marseille fire chief Lionel Mathieu said that time was significant to discover possible survivors under the rubble.
The rescuers’ task has been complicated due to the partial collapse of an adjoining building, where eight people had to be brought down by ladder who had taken refuge on a roof terrace.
The nearby buildings were evacuated, and their residents put up in schools, while an aid centre for people looking for loved ones and missing family members has been opened in a neighbouring district.
President Emmanuel Macron took to Twitter to express his sorrow over the tragedy. He thanked the emergency workers and firefighters.
Deputy Mayor Yannick Ohanessian told reporters at the scene that several witnesses had informed this morning that there was a suspicious smell of gas. He said that it sounded like a gas explosion.
