Officials: At least 2 dead, 9 injured after building in northeast France partially collapses

PARIS – An official says an explosion at a residential building and subsequent partial collapse of the edifice has left at least two people dead and injured nine others in France’s Champagne country.

A local rescue official says more than 100 rescue workers, firefighters, and bomb and gas experts were deployed to the building in the subsidized housing complex that collapsed Sunday morning in the city of Reims, east of Paris.

Reims mayor Adeline Hazan told France’s BFM television that “a very powerful explosion” had taken place but the cause was unclear. She said the bodies of the two people killed remained under the rubble.

The rescue official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter, said he couldn’t immediately confirm whether an explosion had taken place.