Gas blast rescuers give up search

Rescue workers today called off a search for survivors under the rubble of an apartment building flattened by a gas explosion that killed at least 17 people.

Fifteen people were injured, one of them seriously, in Sunday’s blast in the eastern city of Mulhouse, rescue workers said. They said two others were believed missing, but there was little or no chance of finding them alive under the wreckage.

The blast levelled the five-story building, officials said. The victims ranged in age from 13 to 60.

Dozens of rescue workers equipped with sniffer dogs and mechanical diggers took part in the search for survivors. Locating the missing was complicated by the need to remove collapsed concrete beams.

Police investigators were working to identify bodies, some of which were blown apart in the explosion. The blast was believed to have been triggered by a gas pocket on either the ground floor or the second floor.

Witnesses said they noticed the smell of gas shortly before the explosion, but utility operator Gaz de France said it had not received any calls from consumers about gas smells in the days before the blast.

A utility employee inspected the building earlier this month, but did not find any problems, GDF official Gilles Gallean said. He said he did not rule out that a company error could be to blame.

The state prosecutor opened an investigation into suspected manslaughter.