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Disaster in Sanary-sur-Mer: use after explosion
Photo: NICOLAS TUCAT / AFP
In the south of France, a three-story apartment building collapsed after an explosion on Monday night.
There was at least one fatality.
The fire brigade is looking for people buried under the rubble in the Mediterranean town of Sanary-sur-Mer.
The cause of the accident is not yet clear, but it is said to have smelled strongly of gas when the rescue workers arrived.
There is different information on the number of people affected.
The dpa news agency writes citing the prefecture of two rescued people.
Search dogs in action
A spokesman for the responsible fire department said that of five people suspected of being under the rubble, two had been freed: a woman and a baby.
Both were conscious.
In addition, a buried man was found unconscious.
It is still unclear whether this is the one who has now been found dead. The other two people suspected under the rubble are also being searched for with the help of search dogs.
A fire brigade spokeswoman had previously told the dpa that five other people who were nearby at the time of the explosion had been taken care of by the rescue workers.
Some have been taken to the hospital.
The AP news agency, on the other hand, reported three missing persons.
There were also three other injured.
bbr / dpa / AP / AFP