A fifth body has been found in the rubble of the two dilapidated buildings that collapsed in the centre of Marseille on the morning of Monday, 5 November.
Nearly 100 firefighters and 33 vehicles were deployed after the disaster, and have been searching the site for survivors.
Emergency workers have so far found the bodies of three women and two men, and are continuing to search the ruins for another three people believed to have been in the buildings.
Several witnesses confirmed the presence of people in the buildings at the time of the disaster.
Nacer Sellani, manager of a shop opposite the collapsed buildings, told Le Monde: “There was this Comorian lady. She took her two children to school and returned shortly before the collapse. We heard her scream.”
Meanwhile a political row has broken out over the city’s apparent willingness to house its poorer inhabitants in dangerous buildings.
Julien Ruas, deputy mayor of Marseille, said one of the two buildings that collapsed, number 63, was closed following the issuing of a danger order. And Christophe Castaner, the newly appointed interior minister, said he had ordered a building-by-building audit in Marseilles followed by a programme of works to remove or strengthen “unsuitable” buildings.
Image: Almost 100 firefighters were involved in the rescue attempt (Bataillon de Marins Pompiers de Marseille/Facebook)
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