France: Two dead in building explosion

An explosion at a residential building and subsequent partial collapse of the edifice has left at least two people dead and injured nine others in the Champagne area of France, officials have said.

A local rescue official says more than 100 rescue workers, firefighters and bomb and gas experts were deployed to the building in the subsidised housing complex that collapsed on Sunday morning in the city of Reims, east of Paris.

Reims mayor Adeline Hazan told France's BFM television that "a very powerful explosion" had taken place but the cause was unclear.

She said the bodies of the two people killed remained under the rubble.

The rescue official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to discuss the matter, said he could not immediately confirm whether an explosion had taken place.