Marseille collapse: The day France's second city ripped apart By Patrick Jackson

BBC News Published duration 9 November 2018

image copyright AFP image caption For much of the week, emergency services searched the rubble of the two houses in Rue d'Aubagne

The deadly collapse of two houses in Marseille has traumatised France's second city in a way that eerily echoes London's Grenfell Tower disaster.

The full horror emerged only gradually, as firefighters painstakingly searched the rubble, while government ministers visited the scene and national TV and radio channels covered the disaster exhaustively. Day after day, bodies were recovered and by Friday an eighth victim was found.

Fewer people may have lost their lives than the 72 who died at Grenfell , but the disaster exposed a long-standing housing problem that affects some 100,000 people in private accommodation in Marseille, according to a 2015 government report.

And there is heartbreak over lives cut short, and fear, and fury.

"Clearly there is anger," says Jean-Marie Leforestier , a reporter for local news site Marsactu . "Residents and associations have been condemning substandard housing for years. People feel overlooked and the efforts being made in response to this awful event look very late."

Where did the buildings collapse?

Rue d'Aubagne is a long, busy, ascending street in the old city that leads off the Canebière, the great avenue which forms an axis between the cramped northern quarters with all their economic and social problems, and the prosperity and elegance of southern Marseille.

The street winds through the traditionally working-class quarter of Noailles, where much of the population are immigrants or their descendants from France's former colonies in North Africa. Other residents are drawn to the quarter by low rents.

But some Marseille people may know the Rue d'Aubagne best as a street to take from the Canebière to reach the clubs and cafes of the popular Cours Julien quarter nearby.

A silent march was due to take place in Noailles on Saturday.

Who died at No. 65?

The victims have been recovered from the rubble of No. 65, a privately owned building. Of those identified, only the first names are being reported officially.

The building collapsed around 09:00 (08:00 GMT) on Monday along with No. 63, which had been bought by the city and was officially uninhabited.

image copyright EPA image caption Dozens of people were evacuated from the area around the fallen houses

Inside were two friends he had invited to stay over, one a Tunisian named Taher who was 58, and the other an Algerian called Chérif, who was 36.

Taher's body has been identified while investigators are trying to establish whether that of another man is Chérif's.

The fourth and top floor of the building had been inhabited by a woman of 55 called Marie-Emmanuelle.

On the second floor lived an Italian woman named Simona, who was 30.

image copyright Simona Carpignano Facebook page image caption Simona Carpignano was living on the second floor

Simona Carpignano, to give her her full name, had recently completed a course in economics at Aix-Marseille University.

Family and friends attended a Mass for her at a church around the corner from Rue d'Aubagne, her friends remembering her joie de vivre.

An Italian national of Senegalese origin, 26-year-old Niasse, had spent the night in her flat and was also killed.

image copyright AFP image caption Firefighters had to carefully take apart the debris

Sharing the same floor of the building was Fabien, 54, a painter who was a popular figure in La Plaine, another centre of Marseille night life further to the south.

One of Marseille's most famous rock bands, Moussu T e lei Jovents, paid tribute to its "friend" and "comrade" on Facebook.

A 30-year-old worker named Julien, who lived on the first floor, was also killed.

The body of an unnamed eighth victim, a woman, was recovered on Friday.

The day after the disaster, a man could be seen playing Brazilian music in mourning for a friend killed in the building, journalist Margaïd Quioc tweeted.

How safe are Marseille's old houses?

image copyright AFP image caption A crane works at the gap where the two houses stood just a week ago

In the centre of Marseille the number of such dwellings rose to more than a third (35%), and nearly 70% of the homes deemed potentially sub-standard were in co-owned properties such as No. 65 Rue d'Aubagne.

He posted photos this week of structural problems in buildings, while offering advice and reassurance to anxious tenants and landlords.

"Maintenance costs money but if you wait, you expose yourself to major works or a tragedy that will cost you infinitely more," he says.

"A disaster like that on Rue d'Aubagne is exceptional. It's the result of negligence over many years. Fortunately a building does not collapse so easily. Occupants should worry about any element which arises suddenly, or over a few days, and/or has evolved such as a crack, a shifting floor, water intrusion, subsidence etc."

image copyright FCA image caption Fabien Cadenel shared photos of decay in Marseille's old buildings

image copyright FCA

He said anyone with serious concerns should report faults to the mayor's office or other professionals who had an obligation to investigate.

And on Wednesday alone Marseille's city authorities reportedly received 51 alerts about buildings at risk and responded 37 times, ordering four evacuations.

What action is being taken?

"They're still at the studies phase of knowing who does what," he believes.

image copyright Reuters image caption Marseille is powering ahead with new residential construction in some parts of the city

Some 100 protesters gathered near the disaster site this week, hurling insults at Marseille Mayor Jean-Claude Gaudin and the city's top housing official.

Mr Gaudin defended his administration on Thursday and called for laws to make it easier to force landlords to carry out necessary maintenance or make improvements.

But critics counter that other French cities spend more and fare better, while Marseille prioritises urban renewal aimed at attracting tourists and business.

Fabien Cadenel believes landlords cannot be left to solve the problem of substandard housing alone.

"The poorest quarters are the most dilapidated but by definition they also have the landlords with the least means to renovate," the architect says.

The exact cause of the Marseille collapse has not yet been confirmed. But Interior Minister Christophe Castaner has promised that the state will make an audit of "substandard housing" in Marseille, "building by building".