FRANCE SEARCH ON FOR SURVIVORS AS BUILDINGS COLLAPSE
Two buildings collapsed into a pile of rubble and beams Monday in the French city of Marseille, where authorities spoke of a race against time to find people possibly trapped in the ruins.
The buildings — one condemned and supposedly vacant, the other containing apartments, gave way in the morning, revealing a large gap where they had stood once the dust settled.
Fire officials decided to bring down most of a third building deliberately due to concerns the unstable adjacent structure might cave on top of the search crews combing the rubble with sniffer dogs. The late afternoon demolition released more dust clouds.
The government’s housing minister, Julien Denormandie, said at the scene he couldn’t rule out that people were trapped in the collapse.
“It’s a race against the clock,” Denormandie said. “The urgent task is to determine whether there are people we can save.”
Marseille fire services said two people who were in the street when the buildings collapsed were treated for light injuries. Thick dust covered cars around the site near Marseille’s famous Old Port.
Amateur video broadcast on BFM-TV featured bystanders covering their mouths with their sleeves to avoid the dusty air.