The fatal memory of Lille is still remembered.
Emergency services have been at work since dawn this Saturday in the center of Toulouse (Haute-Garonne) to ensure that no victims are trapped in the rubble of a building which collapsed. collapsed around 1 a.m., but had previously been emptied of its occupants.
The debris from the damaged building - rubble, metal pipes and personal effects - flowed spectacularly into the adjacent street, an AFP photographer noted on site.
Around fifty firefighters are on site, accompanied by dog teams, and evacuated 23 people living in adjoining buildings during the night, some using ladders, the Departmental Fire and Rescue Service told the press. emergency (Sdis) of Haute-Garonne.
In principle, no resident was trapped but the emergency services made sure of this, also checking that no pedestrian was hit, although the perimeter had been inaccessible since Tuesday.
A “significant crack” detected
This three-story building on rue Saint-Rome, one of the most commercial streets in the center, three blocks from the famous Toulouse Capitol, was evacuated on Tuesday following a first “collapse of an interior wall” , according to Sdis, in one of the stores located on the ground floor.
After this immediate evacuation of residents, a “significant crack” was detected by “building risk specialists”, and it was initially planned that the building would benefit from shoring carried out by a private company, according to this same source. Tuesday.
This collapse comes as the Toulouse metropolitan area was mourned on Monday by the collapse of a viaduct under construction of the metro, killing a worker and seriously injuring two others.
In November 2022, two buildings collapsed, in the center of Lille, after being evacuated.
But a man, to whom a resident had entrusted the keys to his home, and who had not been warned of the imminent danger, was found dead in the rubble.