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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/nov/06/marseille-building-collapse-rescuers-search-for-missing
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| Marseille building collapse: two bodies found as search continues | Marseille building collapse: two bodies found as search continues |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The bodies of a man and a woman have been discovered in the ruins of two dilapidated buildings that collapsed in the centre of Marseille on Monday. | The bodies of a man and a woman have been discovered in the ruins of two dilapidated buildings that collapsed in the centre of Marseille on Monday. |
| The city prosecutor, Xavier Tarabeux, confirmed the first death as rescue teams scrambled to find survivors in the rubble. | The city prosecutor, Xavier Tarabeux, confirmed the first death as rescue teams scrambled to find survivors in the rubble. |
| “We have found the body of a man who has died. The operation will continue. We are still looking at there being between five and eight victims; people of whom we have no news,” Tarabeux said. Prosecutors later said a second body had been found. | “We have found the body of a man who has died. The operation will continue. We are still looking at there being between five and eight victims; people of whom we have no news,” Tarabeux said. Prosecutors later said a second body had been found. |
| The French interior minister, Christophe Castaner, said the rescue operation was “meticulous and delicate”, much of which had to be carried out by hand. | The French interior minister, Christophe Castaner, said the rescue operation was “meticulous and delicate”, much of which had to be carried out by hand. |
| “The searchers have found some survival pockets so there is perhaps hope there may be people still alive,” he added. | “The searchers have found some survival pockets so there is perhaps hope there may be people still alive,” he added. |
| About 80 firefighters were combing through the remains. A political row is brewing over the condition of the two buildings, with about 6,000 properties in Marseille in a dilapidated state, officials said. | About 80 firefighters were combing through the remains. A political row is brewing over the condition of the two buildings, with about 6,000 properties in Marseille in a dilapidated state, officials said. |
| Castaner said: “I am here to accompany the men and women trying to save lives. The polemic can come later, the investigation now. Everyone is trying to saving lives. That is the urgency. For as long as there is hope the fire service will continue to fight to save lives.” | Castaner said: “I am here to accompany the men and women trying to save lives. The polemic can come later, the investigation now. Everyone is trying to saving lives. That is the urgency. For as long as there is hope the fire service will continue to fight to save lives.” |
| The minister said the building that was occupied, No 65 rue d’Aubagne, had undergone a “technical inspection” on 18 October. While concerns about its state were raised, there was no decision to evacuate or stop anyone living there. | The minister said the building that was occupied, No 65 rue d’Aubagne, had undergone a “technical inspection” on 18 October. While concerns about its state were raised, there was no decision to evacuate or stop anyone living there. |
| Renaud Muselier, the president of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region, asaid: “We have no news. Teams have worked through the night in difficult conditions. It’s been raining so it’s complicated. The one positive thing is that they have found potential breathing spaces.” | Renaud Muselier, the president of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region, asaid: “We have no news. Teams have worked through the night in difficult conditions. It’s been raining so it’s complicated. The one positive thing is that they have found potential breathing spaces.” |
| No 63 was derelict and supposedly empty but may have been occupied by squatters. It fell first, pulling down No 65, which was occupied, and partially damaging No 67, which fire services were forced to pull down entirely. | No 63 was derelict and supposedly empty but may have been occupied by squatters. It fell first, pulling down No 65, which was occupied, and partially damaging No 67, which fire services were forced to pull down entirely. |
| “The risk is that it’s a house of cards. It was a dilapidated building but there were owners and tenants there. It wasn’t a slum,” Muselier said. | “The risk is that it’s a house of cards. It was a dilapidated building but there were owners and tenants there. It wasn’t a slum,” Muselier said. |
| The buildings gave way after 9am on Monday. Throughout the night, emergency services combed through the 15-metre-deep rubble left by the collapse. | The buildings gave way after 9am on Monday. Throughout the night, emergency services combed through the 15-metre-deep rubble left by the collapse. |
| Working all night, search teams removed parts of the building from the road under which they found a crushed car. | Working all night, search teams removed parts of the building from the road under which they found a crushed car. |
| Muselier said that among the missing was a woman who had failed to collect her daughter from school and another woman who rarely left her home in the building. | Muselier said that among the missing was a woman who had failed to collect her daughter from school and another woman who rarely left her home in the building. |
| Sophie, a 25-year-old philosophy student, who was living in one of the destroyed buildings, had stayed with her parents the night before the collapse. “For several days the doors to several flats wouldn’t close, or had difficulty closing, including mine. I was afraid of being imprisoned in my home with the door blocked,” she told AFP. | Sophie, a 25-year-old philosophy student, who was living in one of the destroyed buildings, had stayed with her parents the night before the collapse. “For several days the doors to several flats wouldn’t close, or had difficulty closing, including mine. I was afraid of being imprisoned in my home with the door blocked,” she told AFP. |
| At No 65 rue d’Aubagne, nine of the 10 apartments were occupied. | At No 65 rue d’Aubagne, nine of the 10 apartments were occupied. |
| Marseille fire services said two people who were in the street when the buildings collapsed were treated for light injuries. | Marseille fire services said two people who were in the street when the buildings collapsed were treated for light injuries. |
| Firefighters deliberately brought down most of a third building over concerns the unstable structure might cave in on top of search crews and sniffer dogs combing the rubble of the other buildings. The late afternoon demolition released further dust clouds. | Firefighters deliberately brought down most of a third building over concerns the unstable structure might cave in on top of search crews and sniffer dogs combing the rubble of the other buildings. The late afternoon demolition released further dust clouds. |
| Thick dust covered cars around the site near Marseille’s famous Old Port. Images of the buildings before they collapsed, visible on Google Street View, showed that one of the buildings was clearly in poor repair, with boarded-up windows and large visible cracks on the facade before it collapsed. | Thick dust covered cars around the site near Marseille’s famous Old Port. Images of the buildings before they collapsed, visible on Google Street View, showed that one of the buildings was clearly in poor repair, with boarded-up windows and large visible cracks on the facade before it collapsed. |
| Sabine Bernasconi, the mayor for that part of Marseille, said one of the buildings was subject to an evacuation order but could not say for sure that squatters were not using it. | Sabine Bernasconi, the mayor for that part of Marseille, said one of the buildings was subject to an evacuation order but could not say for sure that squatters were not using it. |
| The regional prefecture urged people to avoid the area and make way for emergency services. | The regional prefecture urged people to avoid the area and make way for emergency services. |
| Retired college lecturer Mark Mason, who owned a flat in number 63 rue d’Aubagne, the first building to collapse, with a French friend Laurence Coriat, said their property was subject to a compulsory purchase order in 2012 after the building was inspected and local officials deemed it unsafe. The floor of a first floor apartment had collapsed and chunks of masonry were falling from the facade, they said. | |
| “Between 2006 and 2012 it got worse,” Coriat said. “We had a report done that said the building was constructed on sand and the foundations were not good.” | |
| Mason, who has since moved to London, added: “The problems started in 2006 when great cracks appeared in the outside walls to the point we had to have wooden frames fitted to support the windows. | |
| “In the end, we were the only owners living in the building. We were forced to sell because there was too much work to be done. The town hall said they were going to buy up all the flats, do up the building and renovate the whole area. That was in 2012.” | |
| He added: “Number 63 has been boarded up since then.” | |
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