7.05 pm: The President of the Republic has spoken out on Twitter.At present, nine people are missing following the tragedy on Rue d’#Aubagne to #Marseille. Our @MarinsPompiers and our @Pompiers_13 are fully committed! pic.twitter.com/AY30W2X8dG
— Renaud Muselier (@RenaudMuselier) 5 November 2018
6.06 pm: The Home Secretary is heading to the scene.This morning, Marseille suffered, and Marseille is still suffering: three blocks of flats have collapsed. We stand in solidarity with our fellow citizens in Marseille.
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) 5 November 2018
5.15 pm: Collapse of a third building A third building has just collapsed on Rue d’Aubagne in Marseille. The building was deliberately demolished by the emergency services to facilitate the search for victims.#Marseille : I am heading to the scene this evening to meet with our security and emergency services personnel who have been deployed there, to take stock of the situation and monitor the progress of operations with @J_Denormandie, the @Prefet13 and local councillors.
— Christophe Castaner (@CCastaner) 5 November 2018
On Monday morning, at around 9 am, two blocks of flats collapsed on Rue d’Aubagne in Marseille.
Emergency services have attended to nine people, two of whom have suffered minor injuries.
The “rescue and clearance” team and the canine unit from the Marseille Maritime Fire Brigade are searching for any victims who may be trapped under the rubble.
Around a hundred marine firefighters have been mobilised, with reinforcements from the SDIS 13 fire service; around thirty police officers are also at the scene.
A medical and psychological emergency unit has been set up at the town hall.
One of the two buildings was unoccupied. It was unfit for habitation and had been declared a hazard by official order.
Julien Denormandie, Minister for Urban Affairs and Housing, and Jean-Luc Mélenchon, MP for the constituency, visited the scene in the afternoon.