After an explosion forced a residential building in Marseille’s centre to fall in the early hours of Sunday, French emergency services were looking for casualties and attempting to extinguish a fire, with six people wounded thus far.
The cause of the explosion is unknown at this time.
According to Mayor Benoit Payan, the fall started a fire, complicating rescue attempts. Two buildings adjacent have partly fallen.
“I’d like us to prepare for a difficult situation – we could have victims today,” Payan added, adding that five of the six wounded are in a “relatively urgent” condition at the hospital.
According to the emergency services, firefighters were still battling the incident, and 80 people had been evacuated.
“The fire makes it more difficult to find the victims,” Commander Laurent of Marseille’s rescue services told BFMTV.
Gerald Darmanin, the Interior Minister, was scheduled to arrive at the site.
