Blast levels French building; at least 1 dead, baby found

By JOHN LEICESTER
Associated Press

PARIS (AP) — French rescue workers have dug out the body of a man but rescued his baby and the child’s mother from the rubble of a three-story apartment building that collapsed in a suspected gas explosion on southern France’s Mediterranean coast. Firefighters are still searching Tuesday through the building remains for two other people feared buried in the blast in the coastal town of Sanary-sur-Mer. The body of a man, aged in his thirties, was found in the debris. The rescued baby is his child and is around 10 months old. The baby’s cries and sniffer dogs led rescue workers to the child’s location. The cause of the overnight explosion wasn’t immediately clear. Authorities said first responders noticed a strong smell of gas on arrival at the scene.