On the port of Sanary-sur-Mer (Var), the grayness of the weather mingles with the sadness of the inhabitants after the collapse of a building, Tuesday around 4 am.
Some come to gather near the site where 40 firefighters are still busy in the middle of the rubble.
The toll is terrible: three people dead, a father found Tuesday, a nonagenarian, found lifeless in the rubble on Wednesday, and a third victim found this Wednesday afternoon.
“This lady had lived in Sanary for years and I saw her do her shopping in the port.
Besides, her son was often at home and, according to what the firefighters told me, it is he they are still looking for with the dogs, ”says Martine, a neighbor in the neighborhood.
While the nonagenarian's son was still missing, it is still unclear whether this is the third victim.
"During the night of the drama, it smelled strongly of gas"
Today, it is the building next to the collapsed building that presents risks. Experts are still there and nine people have been evacuated for prevention. Others, living in nearby buildings, will be too. “Several building security operations are underway,” said a firefighter.
For the mayor of Sanary, Daniel Alsters, “the village has been touched to the heart.
We know each other a lot here.
So we are all the more affected when there are victims down there.
The explosion which preceded the collapse of the building was heard for eight kilometers around, say the police who have not targeted, for the moment, any specific cause.
But for the Sanaryans, the hypothesis of a massive gas leak is preferred.
"During the night of the tragedy, it smelled strongly of gas", confides Christophe, inhabitant of the old center.
“After the huge boom, that's the first thing that struck me.
"
