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New demolitions halt search in deadly French building collapse
MARSEILLE, Nov 8, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Two dilapidated buildings next to those
which collapsed in southern France were to be demolished Thursday, forcing
rescue workers to call off their search after six bodies were pulled from the
rubble.
Two people are thought to still be missing after two apartment buildings
suddenly crumbled on Monday morning in the Mediterranean port city of
Marseille.
A third building then collapsed later that day, slowing the search for
survivors as rescue workers cautiously cleared the debris amid the risk that
adjacent structures could fail as well.
Officials said late Wednesday they would have to destroy two more
buildings at the site since they were no longer being supported by the
adjacent structures.
Furious residents along the Rue d’Aubagne, many of whom have been
evacuated from their homes, have accused city authorities of neglecting the
safety risks at the derelict buildings despite years of complaints.
Mayor Jean-Claude Gaudin, the target of much of the criticism, will hold a
press conference at 11:00 am (1000 GMT) to give an update on the situation
and brief residents on the city’s plans for rehabilitating thousands of
neglected lodgements.
“Gaudin, Fructus, murderers!” a crowd of around 100 protestors yelled at
the site on Wednesday evening, referring to the mayor’s deputy in charge of
housing, Arlette Fructus.
– ‘Nobody cares’ –
It was unclear when the search would resume since the two adjacent
buildings would have to be torn down “piece by piece,” the government’s top
official in the region, Pierre Dartout, said late Wednesday.
Marseille prosecutor Xavier Tarabeux said it was not yet clear why how the
two buildings, dating from the late 18th century, collapsed in a matter of
seconds after a night of heavy rains.
But one of the buildings in Noailles, a working-class district just steps
from the city’s bustling port, had already been condemned by city officials
and boarded up for years.
Google Maps images taken in recent months showed large cracks in the
facades of the buildings.
City officials said building experts inspected the occupied building on
October 18 and shoring up work was then carried out before residents were
allowed back in.
And Tarabeux said a resident in one of the apartments had called firemen
the night before the disaster to warn that a crack in the wall had widened,
only to call back later and say an intervention was not necessary.
The revelations further fanned the anger of residents, who say their
complaints have been ignored for years.
“It’s only blacks and Arabs living here, so nobody cares,” said Adama,
originally from the Comoro Islands.
“I pay rent — 380 euros ($430) a month — and I even pay a municipal
housing tax. But you’ve seen the state of the buildings,” the young man said.
City authorities say they began a vast housing renovation plan for the
city centre in 2011,
Interior Minister Christophe Castaner has said 6,000 properties have been
identified as “at risk” in the city, representing some 44,000 lodgings,
mainly in lower-class neighbourhoods.
A 2015 government report said about 100,000 Marseille residents were
living in housing that was dangerous to their health or security.
“It’s unthinkable that such things happen in our time,” said Christian
Gouverneur, who owns a flat across the road from the disaster site.
In a separate incident on Wednesday, a building with three apartments
collapsed in the centre of Charleville-Mezieres in northeast France, the very
day President Emmanuel Macron held a cabinet meeting in the city as part of
his tour of World War I sites this week.
No victims were reported, though some 50 people were evacuated from
neighbouring buildings.
BSS/AFP/IJ/1535 hrs