Evening Update Monday 11 April 2023

Four people who died in the collapse of a building in Marseille have been identified, according to the public prosecutor. They are a husband and wife, both aged 74, and two women aged 65 and 88. Investigators are still trying to identify two other people whose bodies were recovered from the collapsed building. A search is continuing for two other people who are believed to have lost their lives. The prosecutor said at a press conference today that the main hypothesis being considered at the moment is that the collapse was caused by a gas explosion.

President Macron has been interrupted by hecklers during a speech in the Netherlands this afternoon. He arrived earlier today on a state visit. Demonstrators heckled the President and unfurled banners as he was beginning a speech in the Hague. During the rest of the visit the President and his wife Brigitte are meeting the King and Queen Consort of the Netherlands as well as attending a dinner at a royal castle. Eight ministers from the French government are accompanying the president on the trip and will be holding meetings with their Dutch counterparts.

Train services were disrupted in Brittany during this morning's rush hour after protestors against the French government's pension reforms gathered on railway tracks. Meanwhile, employees at the final French oil refinery pursuing industrial action have voted to return to work. Union members at the TotalEnergies refinery in the Seine-Maritime held a general meeting this morning. Management have said that it may take a few days to resume production.

Over 300kg of cannabis resin has been seized by customs