Two bodies were found, according to the Fire Department, in the debris of a property that collapsed early Sunday, in Marseille, in the south of France.

“Taking into account the particular difficulties of the operation, the recovery (including the bodies from the ruins) will take time,” the fire department explained in a terse statement, confirming information from the newspaper La Provence and the television network BFMTV.

“The judicial authorities will then proceed with the identification” of the victims, according to the same source.

“There will be an update early in the morning,” the announcement concludes.

The identification of the victims was recorded more than 24 hours after the giant explosion that caused the collapse of a four-story apartment building in Marseille.

Earlier yesterday, the Marseille prosecutor announced that search and rescue services were continuing to search for eight people who were missing and feared buried in the rubble.

The mayor of Marseille, Benoît Payan, spoke of “great pain and suffering tonight” in a press release published by his services.

“We will continue to do everything” to complete the rescue operation, he continued, stressing that “all city services, with the help of state services, are always continuing, even at this moment (…) the investigation.”