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

PARIS (AP) — French rescue workers have dug out the body of a man but also pulled a toddler and the child’s mother alive 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 cause of the overnight explosion wasn’t immediately clear. Authorities said first responders noticed a strong smell of gas on arrival at the scene. The rescued child was thought to be 18 months old and was located by sniffer dogs.