Paris (CNN) Between four and 10 people are believed to be trapped under rubble in the southern French port city of Marseille after a building collapsed on Sunday, according to French authorities.
A “violent explosion” at around 12:30 local time is believed to have caused the collapse, according to Marseille Mayor Benoît Payan. The investigation is ongoing.
Eighty people have been evacuated, rescuers told CNN affiliate BFMTV.
Efforts are complicated by the dangerous condition of the ground, with rubble having to be removed before the fire can be fully extinguished, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told BFM, during a visit to the scene.
According to Darmanin, the rescuers are also concerned about turning off the water which endangers the life of any buried survivor.
Local residents described hearing an explosion, with a lot of dust and the smell of gas in the air.
“It was exhausting and completely crazy. I saw an avalanche of people panicking on the street and then I started running like crazy,” an unnamed witness told BFM.
Approximately thirty of the surrounding buildings were also evacuated, according to Darmanin.
French President Emmanuel Macron said on Sunday that his thoughts were with those affected. “Thoughts with Marseille, where a building on rue Tivoli collapsed last night. I think of those affected and their loved ones. An investigation is ongoing with significant resources deployed. Thank you to the firefighters and rescuers who activated,” he said.
A fund of 100,000 euros ($110,000) was given to help the victims of the explosion, according to the Aix-Marseille-Provence Metropolis, with the money coming from the regional authorities, BFMTV reported.
BFMTV also reported that the prosecutor’s office in Marseille has opened an investigation into “unintentional damages.”
Marseille has suffered such incidents in the past. In 2018, CNN reported the collapse of several buildings in the city’s Noailles district, killing at least four people.