Seventh body found after Paris apartment block blast

A seventh body has been found in the ruins of the apartment building that collapsed following an explosion on the Paris outskirts on Sunday. Rescue workers were still searching on Monday morning for one last person missing.

Firefighters carry a body on a stretcher from the rubble of the collapsed building in Rosny-Sous-Bois Reuters/Christian Hartmann

After raking through the rubble under powerful arc-lights all through the night, rescuers found the body of an 80-year-old woman who lived on the first floor on Monday morning, bringing the death toll to seven.

A 50-year-old man, who lived on the ground floor, was still missing and searchers said the chances that he had survived were “very, very slim”.

Eleven people were injured, four of them seriously, officials announced, after the building collapsed, leaving rooms torn in half attached to the neighbouring address.

None of the injured people’s lives were in danger on Monday, according to Prefect Philippe Galli.

Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve on Sunday said that the building had been demolished by “an explosion apparently caused by a gas leak”.

Police confirmed that work on its gas supply had been going on but the investigators charged with establishing the cause have refused to rule out other causes.

Prime Minister Manuel Valls on Sunday expressed “solidarity” with the victims and their families.