A student in Lille, northern France, discovered huge cracks in his house at night when he returned from a party and probably prevented a catastrophe with many deaths with a quick alarm. Because the man alerted the fire brigade and police, the building was evacuated on Saturday evening before collapsing along with a neighboring house in the morning, Lille mayor Martine Aubry announced.
While the 22-year-old was already celebrated as a hero, the fire brigade came with sad news on Sunday at the end of the rescue work: they found a missing person dead in the rubble. A second victim was rescued from the ruins with minor injuries.
“We Heard Debris Falling”
After an evening with friends, when he opened the front door, he encountered a completely misaligned wall in the hallway, Thibault Lemay told France Bleu. “I go to my two roommates and we find out that the building has moved because we couldn’t open the door at the top and we heard the rubble fall,” said the student. “When I left the house at 8 p.m., there was still no sign that it was going to happen.” The residents of the other three apartments were evacuated in a hurry. Apparently no one expected a collapse.
At around 9:15 am, the buildings in the street, which is busy during the day with shopping tourists, suddenly collapsed. A photographer from the newspaper “La Voix du Nord” witnessed the collapse on the way to the editorial office. First stones broke out of the facade and then the buildings collapsed. The photographer was able to reverse gear just in time and assure rescuers that no one was standing in front of the buildings at the time of the collapse. A neighboring hotel was evacuated.
The Minister of the Interior thanked helpers and students
The investigations carried out by the Ministry of Justice must show, among other things, whether renovation work on one of the buildings is the cause of the collapse. Experts have begun examining neighboring buildings for stability and safety, the mayor said. According to media reports, a third house next to the ruins would collapse on Sunday. Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin thanked the fire brigade for their efforts and the student for his prompt action.
Source: Krone
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
