Blast levels building in France; toddler rescued, 3 missing

PARIS (AP) — French rescue workers have pulled a toddler and the child’s mother 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 rubble for three other people feared buried in the blast in the coastal town of Sanary-sur-Mer. The cause of the overnight blast wasn’t immediately clear. But authorities said first responders noticed a strong smell of gas on arrival at the scene. The firefighting service said the rescued child was thought to be 18 months old and was located by sniffer dogs. Rescue workers dug their way through the debris to extract the child who was sent to a hospital for treatment of injuries.