The 60 firefighters deployed were, this Saturday afternoon, looking for a doctor, missing and who could be under the rubble, said the Fire Rescue Operational Center (Codis) of the North. Several politicians had initially indicated that there were “a priori” no victims, before the firefighters announced that they were looking for this “potential victim”.
“We are almost certain that this person is in the rubble,” said Lieutenant Colonel Stéphane Beauventre, in a message broadcast by Codis. “His phone is not answering, his car is in the parking lot, […] and he did not take his penalty. “We focus all our efforts on […] extracting the rubble by hand to gain access to this victim,” he added.
Another person, slightly injured, was extracted from the rubble, said the departmental fire and rescue service of the North.
“Total chaos”
It was around 9:15 a.m. when the buildings collapsed. Work was in progress. A photographer from the “Voice of the North” witnessed the collapse of buildings. He tells of “total chaos”.
Noting the appearance of cracks on the walls, a resident who returned from the evening had warned the police and the City.
SAMEER AL-DOUMY/AFP
According ” the voice of the North “, one of the buildings which showed signs of weakness, had been evacuated during the night, around 3 am. Noting the appearance of cracks on the walls, a resident who was returning from the evening warned the police and the City. A danger order was taken and the evacuation of the inhabitants of the building was immediately ordered.
“A young man came home at 3:00 a.m. and he realized that the wall (of the building) was warped,” said the mayor of Lille Martine Aubry. He then warned the municipal police and firefighters, who decided to evacuate the building, considering “that there was a real risk”. “My only concern is that there is no death, no injuries. I’m still shaking.” The neighboring buildings were also evacuated on Saturday morning “as a precaution”.
Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin also thanked “the student who sounded the alarm last night”.
The rebellious deputy for the Adrien Quatennens constituency, withdrawn from public life since the opening of an investigation targeting him on domestic violence, commented on the incident in a tweet, welcoming “the responsiveness of the one who gave the alert, and the professionalism of the municipal and emergency services”.
Violette Spillebout, Renaissance deputy for the North and municipal councilor of Lille, clarified on BFM that “it was a building with two parts: a part formerly France Loisirs which was empty, and part of the Tape à l’œil sign under construction. “. As for the Minister Delegate for Housing, Olivier Klein, he affirmed that “there was no particular alert on this building, it was not a building affected by insalubrity”.