(LANKAPUVATH | COLOMBO) – Eight people are not responding to calls and are thought to be under the rubble of two buildings that have collapsed in an explosion near the port in the southern French city of Marseille, local officials have said.
More than 100 firefighters worked against a ticking clock to extinguish flames deep within the rubble of the five-storey building, but more than 17 hours later “the situation is not yet stabilised,” Marseille Prosecutor Dominique Laurens said at an evening news conference on Sunday.
The collapse caused a fire that has complicated rescue efforts and investigations, and it has not been brought under control, she told a news conference.
Laurens said police have yet to confirm the apparent disappearance of a ninth person who lived in a next-door building. Five people suffered minor injuries from the collapse, which occurred shortly before 1am (22:00 GMT).
Laurens said the cause of the explosion was not yet known.
Television footage showed clouds of smoke rising from the rubble as firefighters tried to put out the fire, while trained dogs were used to try to locate victims.
