A four-storey building collapsed in Marseille (Bouches-du-Rhône), on the night of Saturday to Sunday. It is located at 17, rue de Tivoli, in the city center. “We must prepare to have victims in this terrible tragedy,” declared the mayor, Benoît Payan, early in the morning.
“Strong suspicion that an explosion” is involved
“Last night, at 12:40 a.m., a building at 17, rue de Tivoli collapsed, causing part of the (buildings of) 15 and 19,” said the mayor of France’s second city. “There are strong suspicions that an explosion caused the collapse, but we must remain very careful about the causes at this stage”, indicated the prefect of the Bouches-du-Rhône region, Christophe Mirmand, specifying that gas could be “a possible option”.
Rescue operations were complicated by “a fire in the rubble of 17, (Who) prevents the dogs and teams from being sent in search of any victims who may be under the rubble,” the mayor said. Firefighters hope to be able to use the animals in the next few hours.
A provisional toll of 5 injured and 80 people evacuated
Benoît Payan specified that 5 people from neighboring buildings were injured. A search is underway to find possible victims. In the two buildings damaged after the collapse of number 17, “11 people were evacuated” initially, according to the authorities. In total, about 80 neighbors were taken care of in a room in the city. Part of the building at 15, rue Tivoli collapsed following the first collapse, at 17.
“We must expect victims”, also estimated, at the microphone of France Info, the Minister of Housing, Olivier Klein, who underlines the “difficult work of the rescue teams on site because there is a smoldering fire” . “All the people who are supposed to be in this building have not been seen and families are worried about their loved ones”, he explains, referring to “a very, very provisional assessment”, because “we have to wait to know more “. “Exchanges are made with families who are looking for their loved ones. He announced a little later on RMC that he would go to Marseilles “this evening or tomorrow”.
Asked around the disaster, Commander Laurent, in charge of rescue operations, underlines that “all the apartments were probably not occupied”, which could limit the total number of victims. The number of people present in the collapsed building is not yet known.
Ongoing research and open investigation
Research is continuing with significant resources deployed. The entire area around the building, in the La Plaine district, is still cordoned off with several streets closed. Many emergency personnel (firefighters, police, public security personnel) are hard at work.
The firefighters could not immediately establish a census of the people who could have been present in the collapsed building, whose rubble obstructs the street.
“We have a hundred men on the ground. The priority is obviously to put out the fire and clear the rubble to find people who may be trapped under the rubble,” said the commander of the marine firefighters, Vice-Admiral Lionel Mathieu.
An investigation has been opened for “unintentional injuries”, the Marseille prosecutor’s office announced this Sunday morning, in order to determine the causes of the disaster. The mayor and the prefect seemed to dismiss an unsanitary building in a district rather known for its restaurants, bars and nightlife. “There was no danger decree for this building and it is not a district listed as having unsanitary housing,” said the prefect. “To my knowledge, there are no particular problems with this building. We are not on the case of a street with unhealthy housing, ”also said the mayor.
In November 2018, the collapse, rue d’Aubagne, of two buildings in another district of central Marseille, Noailles, had killed 8 people and sparked a wave of indignation against poor housing in this city where 40,000 people live in slums, according to non-governmental organizations. “We ask the town hall of Marseille to take care of the evacuees as quickly and with dignity. All Marseille residents will be available to support this and will show solidarity with neighbours, in particular the evacuees of 15 and 19 currently welcomed in nearby schools. reacted on Facebook the angry Noailles collective, formed after the collapse of the rue d’Aubagne.
Gérald Darmanin on site
During the night, the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, expressed his “support for the rescue forces”. “The firefighters are fully mobilized to control the fire which has spread,” he added. He will be there in the next few hours.
Shocked residents
Thomas, 32, a resident of number 11, explains that he heard an “explosion” around 12:40 a.m., then “tremors and smoke. And all of a sudden, brutal, we heard the collapse. When I came out we saw the building collapsed. The firefighters arrived very quickly, a column of ambulances was immediately installed in the street. It really looks like a gas explosion.” For Thomas, the buildings on the street are not particularly degraded. Another resident of the street describes number 11 where all the windows have been blown out. Throughout the neighborhood, a strong smell of burning is present in the atmosphere. The 17 is nothing more than a heap of rubble where the firefighters are struggling, while the clearing cranes arrive to clear the area. Next door, some affected buildings reveal the interior of the dwellings. At the time of the explosion “everything shook, we saw people running and there was smoke everywhere, the building fell on the street,” Aziz told Agence France Presse (AFP). This man preferred not to mention his last name, but said he had a night food business on the street where the building collapsed.
“Everything shook, the frames fell. I ran screaming: Acall the fire department! Call the fire department ! And I saw that the building had fallen. There are people who live there. Children schooled with mine “, also related a mother with La Provence.
Jeanine, a grandmother living on rue Joubert nearby, explains that she was evacuated this Sunday morning by the firefighters. “In the night we heard like a bomb, and this morning, they came to tell us that we had to leave,” says Jeanine, who had to leave her home with her daughter and her grandchildren who live in her building. They were directed to a school. “I’m very worried about what they’ll find under the rubble,” worries Jeanne.
On the spot, the LFI deputy for the constituency, Hendrick Davi, describes a neighborhood “in shock. A building, then a second collapsed. We did not know of any unsanitary situation, we must give the firefighters time to work. But there is clearly a problem of renovation of old buildings in this area. I live here, it’s been three years since I reported a dangerous gas line in my home, nothing has been done.