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Paris building collapse

August 31, 2014

Authorities in Paris are investigating what caused an explosion which led to the deadly collapse of a residential building. Rescuers were continuing to search for victims possibly trapped in the rubble.

https://p.dw.com/p/1D4IL
Firefighters inspect the site where a four-storey residential building collapsed following a blast in Rosny-sous-Bois in the eastern suburbs of Paris on August 31, 2014. Local authorities have not yet determined what caused the blast that led to the collapse, killing a child and wounding 11 people. AFP PHOTO / BERTRAND GUAY
Image: B.Guay/AFP/Getty Images

The explosion which led to the collapse of the four-story building in a northeastern Paris suburb occurred Sunday morning local time (0500 UTC).

The fire department reported that one child had been killed, and about 10 people, some of them seriously wounded, were evacuated from the rubble.

"We could still find living victims in the hours to come," fire department spokesman Gabriel Plus told French television channel iTele. According to varying news agency reports, up to a dozen people were still unaccounted for.

French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve, who was at the site of the collapsed apartment building in Rosny-sous-Bois, told reporters the blast appeared to have been caused by a gas leak, though he could not confirm that theory.

"We should be prudent, because there are investigations on-going. There is no certainty," he said.

se/nm (Reuters, AFP)