But its collapse has raised searching questions for Paris Airport Authority, which was yesterday accused by unions of allowing ambition to override safety concerns. The left-wing union, the Confédération Générale du Travail, said it had issued warnings last year about the rush to complete the terminal before the summmer holidays. Contractors were put under excessive pressure to finish the job quickly, it said.

Designed as the prestigious hub of Air France’s worldwide operation, it was expected to open in April last year but the inauguration was postponed until June 25 because of delays in construction work. A few days before the official opening, ceiling lighting crashed to the floor during a visit by a security committee made up of engineers, architects and fire officers. That caused a further week’s delay.

“Even when it did finally open, there was still work going on,” an airport works council official said. “I remember going around it a month or so before it opened. It was an immense building site, like a cathedral. There were all sorts of contractors and sub-contractors everywhere.”

A workman said: “Someone’s got something wrong somewhere. A new building does not just fall apart like that.”

Captain Laurent Vibard, of the Paris Fire Brigade, said that 250 rescue workers had been sent to the scene. “It’s like the site of a natural catastrophe, of an earthquake. The section that collapsed was about 30m long and 20m wide, and that makes several tonnes of debris.” Victims were buried under tonnes of concrete, glass and steel, with so much debris that rescuers did not know if the dead numbered five or six. All were passengers trapped in a walkway crushed by the falling building. Their identities were not known last night.

As rescuers searched the debris with dogs and heat sensors, President Chirac expressed his “very great compassion” for the relatives of the dead and injured. He ordered an urgent investigation into the cause of the disaster.

Airport managers said that staff and passengers noticed cracks in the terminal shortly before it collapsed at 6.57am. An airport employee said they had seen dust and small lumps of concrete falling from the roof and wall, and had alerted police, who were cordoning off the area when it all collapsed.

Jean-Paul Simonnt, the state prosecutor, said: “The first crack was noticed by passengers, who told the police. Officers had time to take at least one photograph and to proceed with the evacuation of some of the people present. A second crack then appeared before the building collapsed very shortly afterwards.”

Built for Air France and its five partners in the Sky Team commercial alliance, Aeromexico, Alitalia, CSA, Delta and Korean Airlines, the terminal is designed to cope with up to 17 long-haul flights at the same time. It was to be extended next year to receive the Airbus 380, which will be the world’s biggest aircraft.

Police said last night that the accident happened when terminal 2E was relatively empty. The only passengers were those who had arrived on Air France flights from New York and Johannesburg, and those planning to board an Air France flight to Prague.

At a later time of day the terminal would have been busier and the death toll higher, one investigator said.

SAFETY PROBLEMS FROM THE START

• The terminal opened on June 25, 2003, eight days late because safety norms had not been met
• The architect was a Frenchman, Paul Andreu
• Terminal 2E consists of a 450m curving central body leading to a 650m jetty, which serves as the departure area.
• Ten aircraft stands allow processing of ten aircraft
• Cost: €750m (£503m)
• Capacity: 6 million passengers a year (9 million by the end of this year)
• 52 check-in counters in 2003 (156 by the end of this year)
• Terminal 2E is used by Air France and Sky Team
• 900 Air France agents
• 400 16/9 TFT screens (Thin Film Transistor)
  Source: Air France

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