Four lifeless bodies were pulled from the rubble of the apartment building that collapsed in Marseille, southern France, following an explosion on the night of Saturday to Sunday.
The four-storey apartment building on Marseille's Rue de Tivoli collapsed after an explosion. Firefighters and rescue workers started an operation to search for several people believed to be under the rubble.
By Monday morning, Marseille mayor Benoit Payan stated on Twitter that two bodies had been found under the rubble: "The pain and sorrow are great. My thoughts are with the relatives and those who are suffering and remain worried. Marseille stands by them."
Later in the morning, the public prosecutor's office reported that a third body has been recovered from the rubble. At noon, the Minister for the City and Housing Olivier Klein announced a fourth body was found.
"Four bodies have been found, these are macabre and difficult discoveries," said Klein at a press conference.
The rescue and search operations are continuing, as there are reportedly still five people missing, including a couple in their thirties and people of “a certain age."
Citing practical difficulties with the case, the fire brigade noted that the extraction (of the bodies from the site) will take time. According to Payan, a “clear identification” of the bodies could be made “in the afternoon or by tomorrow morning."
A surgical process
Several streets in the vicinity have been closed to traffic and more than 30 other buildings have been evacuated as a precaution. The City of Marseille has opened a gym and two schools to accommodate evacuated households; a psychological support unit and an emergency telephone line have been set up.
Payan added that it had been a "very difficult night but there is still hope of finding possible survivors." He gave assurances that everything is being done to aid the rescue operations and affirmed that "all the city's services, accompanied by national services, are at this very moment fully committed to continuing the search."
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However, the work carried out by the marine fire brigade is surgical and slowed by the risk of neighbouring buildings collapsing: the neighbouring building (number 19) collapsed almost completely on Sunday after its residents were evacuated.
“But there is still hope, and as long as there is hope, we will not stop," Payan concluded.
