Issued on:
French rescue workers found a sixth body in the rubble of buildings in the southern city of Marseille, almost 48 hours after an explosion and where residents reported a strong smell of gas. Two people are still missing.
Dozens of civil defence staff using drones, heat sensors and sniffer dogs worked through the still-smouldering debris on Marseille’s Rue Tivoli on Monday to find the missing people.
The collapse early Sunday caused a fire, which has complicated rescue efforts, making it difficult for the dogs to detect survivors or bodies.
“Work continues to identify” the victims, and experts have started work on determining the cause of the explosion, investigators from the prosecutor’s office said, though access to the site remains difficult.
In 2018, three other structures considered unfit for habitation in Marseille collapsed, killing eight people.
Marseille’s mayor Benoit Payan said the buildings that collapsed on Sunday had no known structural problems, and that a gas explosion is being investigated as a possible explanation.
City prosecutors have opened a manslaughter investigation
City in mourning
Payan ordered the town hall’s flags to be flown at half-mast on Tuesday, and condolence books will be provided for locals to pay their respects to the victims.
On Monday evening, a prayer vigil was held at a church near the site of the explosion.
The explosion destroyed two residential buildings and caused a third to partially collapse. Five people were taken to hospital on Sunday with serious but not life-threatening injuries.
Almost 200 residents were evacuated from about 40 buildings in the area.
(with newswires)
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
