[ad_1]
Update
French rescue teams found a fourth body in the ruins of two buildings that collapsed in the city of Marseille, in the south of the country.
Key points:
- A condemned building presumed vacant, the other was inhabited
- Third building demolished to avoid an additional disaster
- Dozens of residents evacuated from nearby apartments
A spokesman for the Marseilles Fire Department told The Associated Press that a woman's body had been found Tuesday night (local time) in the rubble, several hours after the bodies of two men and women. ;another woman.
Several others are still missing.
The two buildings gave way to where they were Monday morning, collapsing in a cloud of dust and leaving behind huge piles of debris.
Interior Minister, Christophe Castaner, said that "air pockets" under the debris meant that there was "hope to locate and find somebody". one who could be saved ".
Mr. Castaner said that 120 police officers and 80 firefighters had taken part in the rescue operation, working all night in the pile of beams and rubble.
The buildings collapsed Monday around 9:00 am (local time) in a street near the famous Old Port of Marseille, at the edge of the Mediterranean Sea.
Eight residents and two men recorded in front of a security camera who were walking in the buildings just before the collapse were not found, said Mr. Castaner earlier to France Bleu.
One building had 12 apartments and France 24 reported that nine were occupied.
The other building had been convicted and was supposed vacant.
Nearly 100 firefighters arrived at the scene to search for victims.
"It's a race against time," Housing Minister Julien Denormandie said Monday.
"The urgent task is to determine if there are people we can save."
Previously, searches had been halted for fear that a nearby building would collapse, as firefighters found that the buildings were "visibly weakened" after the collapse.
Firefighters deliberately destroyed the majority of a third building late in the afternoon, evacuating about 100 residents from nearby apartments.
The search for survivors continued late into the night Monday.
"In Marseille tonight [authorities] put all their energy into saving and cleaning up, "Castaner said on Twitter.
"Every minute counts.As long as there will be hope, we will continue."
One of the buildings was clearly in poor condition, with recessed windows and large cracks visible on the facade before it collapsed.
Two people who were on the street when the buildings collapsed were treated for minor injuries.
Teams of firefighters working with sniffer dogs then destroyed the remains of a third building which they feared they would fall down.
In an article on Facebook, Mr. Gaudin said recent heavy rains may have contributed to the collapse, but the exact cause was unknown.
AP / ABC
Topics:
disasters and accidents,
emergency incidents,
la France
First posted
