A four-story residential building collapsed shortly after midnight (local time) in the central area of ​​the city. Marseilles.

“At 00:40 a building at 17 Tivoli Street collapsed, sweeping away parts of neighboring buildings,” Mayor Benoît Payan, who visited the area, told reporters. “There is still a fire in the ruins, which does not allow us to send rescuers with trained dogs to search for those trapped,” he added.

“We have about 100 people at the scene, the priority is obviously to put out the fire and move the debris to find the people who are trapped,” a fire official said.

🚨🇫🇷URGENT – The explosion that will take place on the impeccable Tivoli Street #Marseilles. (📹@aurelien1335) pic.twitter.com/xJmFFnIzCH

— AlertesInfos (@AlertesInfos) April 8, 2023

Authorities ordered the evacuation of neighboring buildings for security reasons. “11 people have been evacuated: two are seriously injured, nine are safe, including two children,” the mayor of the French metropolis said.

Police cordoned off the roads around the area, which were previously covered in a cloud of dust.

“It was like a loud explosion,” a local resident named Gilles, who did not give his last name, told AFP.

The reasons for the collapse of the four-story residential building have not been established.

In November 2018, eight people were killed when two buildings collapsed in another area of ​​Marseille.

^{Source: APE-MEB, AFP.}