A house collapses in Marseille in the middle of the night. Hours later, the fire brigade is still trying to save people from the rubble.
France
A house collapses in Marseille in the middle of the night. Hours later, the fire brigade is still trying to save people from the rubble.
(dpa / AFP / jt) – After the collapse of a building in downtown Marseille, emergency services are looking for people under high pressure under the rubble. However, a fire several meters below the rubble made the rescue work considerably more difficult.
France’s Interior Minister Geráld Darmanin said on Sunday in the southern French port city: “We think that between four and ten people are under the rubble.” About 30 houses were evacuated to be on the safe side. According to initial information, at least five people were injured in the collapse. According to media reports, they were in a neighboring building.
As the Public Prosecutor of the Republic of Marseille, Dominique Laurens, also announced at a press conference on Sunday, eight people would “not respond to calls” at the moment. “We have a situation report with eight people who do not respond to calls at 17 rue de Tivoli and on a garden floor that connects 15 and 17 (…) We have no news,” said Dominique Laurens.
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The French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin (middle) and the Mayor of Marseille, Benoît Payan (2nd from left) rushed to the scene.
Photo: AFP
The French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin (middle) and the Mayor of Marseille, Benoît Payan (2nd from left) rushed to the scene.
Photo: AFP
Residents of the surrounding buildings were taken to safety.
Photo: AFP
A building collapsed in the center of Marseille during the night. The cause was probably an explosion.
Photo: AFP
Firefighters tackle a blaze on Rue Tivoli in Marseille.
Photo: AFP
It is unclear exactly how many people were in the four-story house on Rue Tivoli in Marseille’s fifth arrondissement when it collapsed just following midnight. “Four people seem to have been in the building with certainty,” said Darmanin, who traveled to the scene of the accident in the morning. “We don’t know if they’re alive or dead.” Marseille Mayor Benoît Payan stressed that the search for possible survivors was the top priority.
But the rescue work is proving difficult. Shortly following the collapse of the house, a fire ignited under the rubble, which was still burning on Sunday followingnoon. “We are facing a very rare phenomenon – a fire that has been going on for several hours with extremely high temperatures,” Mayor Payan said. Interior Minister Darmanin said debris covered virtually the entire fire. “You can’t do it in a very classic way, because if there are survivors, obviously the water or the foam that firefighters use must not prevent them from surviving.”
The fire is also a problem for the rescue dogs used. Because of the burning smell and the hot temperatures, they have not been able to search well for people who have been buried. The dogs initially found no human traces, Mayor Payan said. “That doesn’t mean anything. We cannot draw any conclusions from this at the moment.”
During the collapse at night, parts of the two neighboring houses were also torn down. A few hours later, more parts of one of the two houses collapsed. The reason for the collapse was probably an explosion. “We cannot yet know today what caused this very large explosion,” said Interior Minister Darmanin. DIn any case, the house was not known to be in danger of collapsing.
The incident on Easter night and fears regarding possibly buried people caused horror in France. The broadcaster BFMTV showed visibly shocked residents who spoke of a loud bang and screams. French head of state Emmanuel Macron wrote on Twitter that he was moved and thinking of all those affected and their families. Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne was also dismayed on Twitter.
There have been several fatal building collapses in Marseille over the past 40 years. On January 11, 1981, eight people died and 16 were injured in the Canet slum when their building collapsed. Five people died in a building explosion near the Boulevard du Prado in 1985. On July 20, 1996, a gas explosion brought down a seven-story building near the Saint-Charles train station, killing four and injuring 26.
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