Sign up for one of our email newsletters.

MARSEILLE, France — Firefighters in the southern French city of Marseille found the bodies of three people in the ruins of two collapsed buildings as the search for victims and survivors continued Tuesday.

A man’s body was recovered from the rubble after the bodies of another man and a woman were found earlier in the day, a spokesman for the Marseille Firefighters told The Associated Press.

Several people remained missing after the adjacent multi-story structures collapsed Monday.

French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said “air pockets” under the debris meant there’s “hope to locate and find someone that can be saved.”

Castaner said at the site that 120 police officers and 80 firefighters took part in the search-and-rescue operation, working through the night in the pile of beams and rubble.

The two buildings, one apparently vacant and the other housing apartments, collapsed Monday at 9 a.m. local time. Authorities said the vacant building had been deemed substandard. It was not immediately clear why they collapsed, or how many people the apartment building housed.

Fire crews working with sniffer dogs later brought down the remains of a third building they feared could topple over on them.

Images of the buildings before they collapsed showed that one had five floors and the other six. In the spot where they had stood, a large gap appeared once the dust and debris settled.

Cars around Marseille’s famous Old Port on the Mediterranean Sea, were covered with thick dust.</s>The death toll has risen to six in the collapse of two dilapidated apartment buildings in the southern French city of Marseille with the discoveries of two men’s bodies on Wednesday.

The fire service has been toiling day and night with cadaver dogs to sift through the pile of rubble and beams.

The two buildings, one condemned as substandard and seemingly empty, the other containing apartments, collapsed on Monday.

Fire crews deliberately brought down an adjacent third building that was also in danger of collapse.

The fire service has said the site remains dangerous.

The collapse has provoked soul-searching and criticism about the parlous state of some housing in Marseille, France’s second-largest city. – AP</s>French rescue crews have found the body of a man in the ruins of two buildings that collapsed in the southern city of Marseille.

The discovery was confirmed by the city’s fire brigade on its Twitter feed. Authorities fear more people could be trapped inside (AP)

Authorities fear other people may also be trapped in the ruins.

The two buildings, one vacant and the other housing apartments, collapsed on Monday morning.</s>MARSEILLE, France (Reuters) - The body of a sixth victim has been found in the rubble of two dilapidated buildings that collapsed this week in the city of Marseille, said a public prosecutor official on Wednesday.

The buildings collapsed on Monday morning. Emergency services combing through the rubble have now found the bodies of four men and two women.

Authorities had initially said that up to eight people might have been buried in the debris.

Rescue teams said their work had been complicated since the collapse had destabilised other nearby buildings in the street, which lies not far from the city’s historic Old Port area.

Authorities said they were looking into what caused the collapse of the buildings, described by residents of the area as dilapidated and in need of repair.</s>MARSEILLE, France (Reuters) - The body of a seventh victim has been found in the wreckage of two dilapidated buildings that collapsed this week in the city of Marseille, said the city's mayor Jean-Claude Gaudin and fire brigade services.

The buildings collapsed on Monday morning, and emergency services have since been sifting through the rubble for anyone found trapped in the debris.

Authorities had initially said that up to eight people might have been buried in the wreckage.

Rescue teams said their work had been complicated since the collapse had destabilised other nearby buildings in the street, which lies not far from the city's historic Old Port area.

Authorities said they were looking into what caused the collapse of the buildings, described by residents as dilapidated and in need of repair

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.</s>MARSEILLE, France (AP) — French rescue crews who labored through the night say they’ve found the body of a man in the ruins of two buildings that collapsed in a pile of beams and rubble in the southern city of Marseille.

The discovery was confirmed Tuesday morning by the city’s fire brigade on its Twitter feed .

Authorities fear other people may also be trapped in the ruins.

The two buildings, one vacant and the other housing apartments, collapsed Monday morning. Fire crews working with sniffer dogs later brought down the remains of a third building they feared could topple over on them.</s>French rescue crews have found the body of a man in the ruins of two buildings that collapsed in the southern city of Marseille.

The discovery was confirmed by the city’s fire brigade on its Twitter feed.

Authorities fear other people may also be trapped in the ruins.

The two buildings, one vacant and the other housing apartments, collapsed on Monday morning.</s>PARIS (AP) - The death toll has risen to five in the collapse of two dilapidated apartment buildings in the southern French city of Marseille, with the pre-dawn discovery of a man's body.

The Marseille fire service that has been toiling day and night with cadaver dogs to sift through the pile of rubble and beams reported the discovery on its Twitter feed .

The two buildings, one condemned as substandard and seemingly empty, the other containing apartments, collapsed on Monday. Fire crews deliberately brought down an adjacent third building that was also in danger of collapse.

The fire service says the site remains dangerous.

The collapse has provoked soul-searching and criticism about the parlous state of some housing in Marseille, France's second-largest city.

Firefighters work at the scene where buildings collapsed in Marseille, southern France, Monday, Nov. 5, 2018. Two buildings collapsed in the southern city of Marseille on Monday, leaving a giant pile of rubble and beams. Fire services said two people were lightly hurt. The collapse spewed debris into the street and clouds of dust into the air, and left a big gap where the two buildings used to be. (AP Photo/Claude Paris)

Firefighters work at the scene where buildings collapsed in Marseille, southern France, Monday, Nov. 5, 2018. Two buildings collapsed in the southern city of Marseille on Monday, leaving a giant pile of rubble and beams. Fire services said two people were lightly hurt. The collapse spewed debris into the street and clouds of dust into the air, and left a big gap where the two buildings used to be. (AP Photo/Claude Paris)

Firefighters work at the scene where buildings collapsed in Marseille, southern France, Monday, Nov. 5, 2018. Two buildings collapsed in the southern city of Marseille on Monday, leaving a giant pile of rubble and beams. Fire services said two people were lightly hurt. The collapse spewed debris into the street and clouds of dust into the air, and left a big gap where the two buildings used to be. (AP Photo/Claude Paris)

Firefighters work at the scene where buildings collapsed in Marseille, southern France, Monday, Nov. 5, 2018. Two buildings collapsed in the southern city of Marseille on Monday, leaving a giant pile of rubble and beams. Fire services said two people were lightly hurt. The collapse spewed debris into the street and clouds of dust into the air, and left a big gap where the two buildings used to be. (AP Photo/Claude Paris)</s>Firefighters are searching for survivors amid rubble after two buildings collapsed in Marseille, France, on Monday morning.

So far, the bodies of two men and two women have been found. Authorities believe there may be five to eight victims.

"The searchers have found some survival pockets so there is perhaps hope there may be people still alive," French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said, according to The Guardian.

One of the buildings, 63 rue d'Aubagne, was condemned, but local officials could not rule out that squatters might have been living there.

People were living in the other building that collapsed, 65 rue d'Aubagne.

Sophie Dorbeaux, a 25-year-old philosophy student, was one of them. She told AFP that she had stayed with her parents the night before the collapse because many of the doors in the building would not close. "It could have been me," she said.

The news service reports that nine of that building's 10 units were occupied, with a shop filling the lower level. An adjoining third building, number 67, sustained damage and was torn down for fear it would collapse, as well.

Castaner said inspectors had visited number 65 on Oct. 18, and were concerned but did not see cause to evacuate.

"The risk is that it's a house of cards. It was a dilapidated building but there were owners and tenants there. It wasn't a slum," Renaud Muselier, the president of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, told the Guardian.

Images taken in July for Google Street View show number 63 with a dilapidated façade and boarded-up windows. Number 65 appears to be in somewhat better condition.

The collapse occurred near the city's Old Port, a bustling area full of aged buildings. A 2015 report by the government found that 100,000 residents of Marseille "were living in housing that was dangerous to their health or security," according to AFP.

"This is not the time for controversy," Castaner wrote on Twitter. "The urgency is the clearing and the rescue: all our energy is dedicated to it. The time of the investigation will come."

City officials have evacuated more than 100 nearby buildings following the collapse, which authorities believe may have been caused by heavy rains, AFP reports.</s>Firefighters in the southern French city of Marseille have found the bodies of four people in the ruins of two collapsed buildings as the search for victims and survivors continued.

Firefighters in the southern French city of Marseille have found the bodies of four people in the ruins of two collapsed buildings as the search for victims and survivors continued.

Four bodies found in ruins after buildings collapse in Marseille

Marseille prosecutor Xavier Tabareux said the body of a woman was recovered after three other people – two men and a woman – were found dead in the rubble earlier.

Several people remained missing after the adjacent multi-storey structures collapsed on Monday.

French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said “air pockets” under the debris meant there’s “hope to locate and find someone that can be saved”.

Mr Castaner said at the site that 120 police officers and 80 firefighters took part in the search-and-rescue operation, working through the night in the pile of beams and rubble.

The two buildings, one apparently vacant and the other housing apartments, collapsed Monday at 9 a.m. local time. Authorities said the vacant building had been deemed substandard. It was not immediately clear why they collapsed, or how many people the apartment building housed.

Fire crews working with sniffer dogs later brought down the remains of a third building they feared could topple over on them.

Images of the buildings before they collapsed showed that one had five floors and the other six.

In the spot where they had stood, a large gap appeared once the dust and debris settled.

Cars around Marseille’s famous Old Port on the Mediterranean Sea, were covered with thick dust.
Authorities find the bodies of two other men in the two collapsed buildings in Marseille, France, two days ago, bringing the death toll to six.