The prosecutor’s office said all eight had been identified, four days after the blast believed to have been caused by a gas leak early Sunday.

More than 100 rescue workers scrambled to try to save the five women and three men who disappeared under the debris.

“Marseille is in mourning tonight,” mayor Benoit Payan said. “Eight of its children are dead.”

Around 300 people who were evacuated from the neighbourhood face an uncertain wait before they are allowed to return to their homes.

A building adjoining the fallen block had also largely collapsed, and the structure on the other side was weakened and risks falling in turn.