‘Fire in rubble’ of Marseille building collapse halts hunt for survivors
The search for survivors of a massive building collapse in the French city of Marseille has been halted because of a fire deep within the rubble, officials said.
More than 100 firefighters rushed to the scene of the collapse, which took place after an explosion at around 1am today (April 9) in an old quarter in the centre of France’s second-largest city.
The noise from the explosion reportedly rang through the city, while two neighbouring buildings were partially brought down as a result of the suspected blast.
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Lionel Mathieu, commander of the Marseille fire brigade, said that the intense heat made it impossible to send in dog teams to search.
“We’re trying to drown the fire while preserving the lives of eventual victims under the rubble.”
“Firefighters are gauging minute by minute the best way to put out the fire,” Marseille’s mayor Benoit Payan said on TV.
He added that an explosion was the “probable” cause of the building collapse, but stressed that an investigation would ultimately determine the cause.
Five people were injured in neighbouring buildings that were damaged by the collapse and 33 were taken into care by emergency responders.
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It is not currently known how many people were inside the block when it collapsed. While it is understood that each floor held one flat, not all the families who lived in the building have been accounted for.
It is still not known if anyone was killed in the building collapse. Mayor Payan said the city should “be prepared to have fatalities in this terrible tragedy.”
Authorities appeared to rule out structural issues in the collapse.
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