Paris, 9 Apr. The collapse of a residential building in Marseille (south of France) has caused at least five serious injuries, but the number of victims is expected to rise as the rescue work progresses, local authorities reported today.
The damaged property is located at number 17 on Tivoli street and the collapse, which occurred around 00:40 (23:40 GMT), also affected the neighboring buildings.
The main hypothesis is that the collapse was caused by an explosion, the causes of which are still unknown.
“You have to prepare for there to be victims,” said the mayor of Marseille, Benoît Payan, in statements to the media early in the morning.
The collapse has affected, according to the first provisional balance, 33 residents of Marseille, of which 6 had to be transferred to the hospital. Five of them are in a state of “relative severity”, as confirmed by the mayor himself.
Rescue efforts at the site are being complicated by a fire in the rubble. EFE
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