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A fifth body was found in the rubble of two dilapidated buildings that collapsed in central Marseille earlier this week.
Rescuers continue to search the ruins for three more people who would still be missing since the two buildings collapsed Monday morning.
The discovery of a fifth victim at dawn on Wednesday came as the angry local population accused the Marseille authorities of leaving the poorest inhabitants of the city living in dangerous housing.
Interior Minister Christophe Castaner announced that he had ordered a building-by-building audit in Marseille before launching what he called an "ambitious program" to guarantee security.
Relief work has been hampered by heavy rains, and evidence suggests that the collapse has destabilized neighboring buildings.
"We are continuing our work in the hope of finding survivors," Charles-Henri Garie, fire chief of Marseille, told BFM TV.
Two buildings housing apartments located at 63 and 65, rue de l'Aubagne, suddenly collapsed in the dilapidated Noailles area of the port of the Mediterranean, Monday morning. A third building, number 67, partially collapsed a few hours later.
Only one of the buildings, number 65, was occupied. The others were so dilapidated that they had been convicted and sentenced to embarkation, although locals say they were frequently used by squatters.
The residents say they warned that the buildings were not solid for years, but accused the city authorities of doing nothing. Images taken before the collapse show large cracks in the facade of number 63; a former resident, Mark Mason, a former university professor, told the Guardian that he had been forced to sell his apartment to the Council located in the building in 2012, under the terms of the law. a purchase order after the collapse of the first floor ground floor and the falling masonry elements.
"Everyone was aware of the problems associated with two collapsed buildings," said Patrick Lacoste, spokesperson for a local housing action group. "People died for nothing while we knew it," he added.
Toufik Ben Rhouma, a resident of the city, blamed the disaster on the mayor of Marseille. "It's a hell here … and now people are dying for nothing," he said.
"It's been 10 years since I live here and I have never come to inspect my apartment," told AFP, another local resident called Sophie.
Marseille City Hall evacuated and relocated 100 residents of neighboring buildings and said heavy rains could have contributed to the collapse. Noailles, in the 1st central district, has several dilapidated buildings, some of which are managed by slum owners. In 2011, local authorities began a downtown renovation plan, but a 2015 government report indicated that 100,000 Marseille residents lived in homes that were unsafe for their health or safety.
Christian Nicol, a former building inspector who oversaw the 2015 report, told RTL that this represented about 13% of homes. He added that the figures had changed little since Marseille became the European city "with the most dilapidated housing".
The public prosecutor of Marseille, Xavier Tarabeux, confirmed the bodies of three men and two women were removed from the debris 15 meters deep. He added that eight people – five residents and three visitors – were 65 at the time of his collapse.
