Hopes of finding survivors amid the rubble of an apartment building that collapsed on Sunday in Marseille, southeastern France, are fading as investigators try to figure out what caused the explosion that brought down the building.

To date, six bodies have been found in the ruins of an apartment building, and two people are still missing more than 48 hours after the collapse of the building, located at 17 Tivoli Street.

“Losses remain the same, operations to search for survivors continue,” a fire department spokesman said.

Marseille prosecutor Dominique Lawrence said on Sunday that eight people are believed to be in the ruins.

Anna and Zaki, aged 82 and 86, who lived on the first floor, Nicole, 66, also on the first floor, Anouignette, 89, on the first floor, Marion and Michel, 31 and 29, on the second, and finally Jacques and Anne-Marie, 73 and 74, in the maisonette on the 3rd and 4th floors: the local newspaper La Provence announced the identities of the tenants of the apartment building and therefore the possible victims.

Meanwhile, investigators are trying to determine the cause of the explosion that caused the collapse, the most likely being a gas leak.

In addition, for the approximately 200 people who were evacuated as a precautionary measure from nearby buildings, the question is when they will be able to return to their homes. This is out of the question for the residents of building number 15, most of which collapsed hours later than 17, as well as for the residents of building number 19, which is also in danger of collapse.

However, other buildings could also be declared uninhabitable: “Neighboring buildings may have been moved, so we have to be careful,” Yannick Oanesyan, Marseille’s mayor’s security chief, warned yesterday.

Residents of five or six houses located further than 17 Tivoli Street were able to return to their homes today. At the same time, residents of 220 evacuated apartments were allowed to return to their homes for a few minutes to collect personal belongings or documents.

Source: APE-MPE, AFP.