Death toll up to 5 in Marseille building collapse

The death toll has risen to five in the collapse of two dilapidated apartment buildings in the southern French city of Marseille, with the pre-dawn discovery of a man's body.

The Marseille fire service that has been toiling day and night with cadaver dogs to sift through the pile of rubble and beams reported the discovery on its Twitter feed.

The two buildings, one condemned as substandard and seemingly empty, the other containing apartments, collapsed on Monday.

Fire crews deliberately brought down an adjacent third building that was also in danger of collapse.

The fire service says the site remains dangerous.

The collapse has provoked soul-searching and criticism about the parlous state of some housing in Marseille, France's second-largest city.