Two bodies found after Marseille building explosion

Two bodies have been found after an explosion flattened a four-storey apartment building in the southern French city of Marseille.

Local authorities said six people remained unaccounted for and that rescue efforts were ongoing.

In a brief statement announcing the discovery of the bodies, the fire department said that “given the difficulties of intervention, the extraction [of the bodies from the site] will take time”.

The blast occurred in the La Plaine neighbourhood at 00:49 local time on Sunday (23:49 BST on Saturday).

The cause remains unclear, but investigators are looking into the possibility of a gas leak.

Five people from neighbouring buildings sustained minor injuries in the explosion and around 200 people had to be evacuated from their homes.

Around 100 firefighters attended the scene to tackle a blaze that burned under the rubble throughout Sunday.

The fire hampered progress and made it difficult for rescuers to deploy sniffer dogs, although authorities said on Sunday evening that the blaze was showing signs of abating.

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Twitter that he was “thinking of those affected and their loved ones” and thanked the emergency workers for their efforts.

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Mayor of Marseille Benoît Payan said rescuers remained “determined” to find people alive. “Hope must hold us,” he said. “Unlike anything I’ve ever heard”

Deputy Mayor Yannick Ohanessian told reporters at the scene that “several witnesses have reached us this morning to say there was a suspicious smell of gas”.

Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin visited the scene on Sunday and Housing Minister Olivier Klein is due to visit on Monday.

The building is believed to have had one apartment on each storey, and city officials said earlier that the people missing included a “young couple”.

Rescue operations continued into the early hours of Monday with the help of a crane and lights.

In 2018, housing standards in Marseille came under scrutiny after two dilapidated buildings in the working class district of Noailles collapsed, killing eight people.

Following that incident, charities estimated that 40,000 people in the city were living in poorly-built homes, but on Sunday officials appeared to rule out structural issues as a cause of the latest collapse.

Zainab Sa’id