PARIS, France -- Paris airport officials are considering tearing down a futuristic new terminal following the deadly collapse of part of its roof.

Fire marshals have lowered the death toll from five to four in Sunday's collapse at Charles de Gaulle airport. Another three people were injured.

Officials haven't ruled out the possibility of finding more victims in the rubble.

Terminal 2E, which opened last June following construction delays, is now closed indefinitely pending criminal and technical investigations into the disaster.

"If all the (structural) rings which make up this terminal are beyond repair, we will raze everything to the ground," Paris airports authority President Pierre Graff was quoted as telling Le Parisien newspaper.

"We will take no risk in terms of safety."

The terminal's architect, Paul Andreu, was heading back to France from China, where he was working on another project.

"I can't explain what happened. I just don't understand it," Andreu was quoted as telling L'Humanite newspaper, Reuters reported.

The terminal, which has a curved roof and small windows that bathe it in light, cost 750 million euros ($900 million) and was hailed as a triumph of engineering and design when it opened.

Andreu said his team had adhered to all required security checks, and that the terminal's opening was delayed because of secondary problems such as electricity installations -- not the overall structure.

Still, shares in French construction firms Vinci and Eiffage, which helped build the terminal, fell almost 3 percent in early trading Monday, Reuters reported.

French President Jacques Chirac has called for a swift investigation into the collapse, and Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin joined interior and transport ministers in visiting the scene.

"It is very important to know the exact cause of the accident to reassure all passengers," Raffarin told reporters at the airport.

Slabs of concrete and metal came crashing down from the ceiling onto a seated waiting area at about 7 a.m. Sunday (0500 GMT).

Part of the raised terminal structure then crashed through a boarding ramp and collapsed onto several vehicles underneath.

The collapse left a gaping hole 50 meters (yards) by 30 meters in the long, tunnel-like building.

The Chinese government said two Chinese travelers were among the dead.

Rescue teams were using sniffer dogs to continue the search Monday for survivors or more bodies.


Hundreds of emergency workers were at the scene.
Officials said there was nothing to indicate a terrorist attack.

A loud noise precipitated a crack in the terminal ceiling, and officials had been evacuating the area when the roof caved in.

"Some people heard cracks before the accident and there was concrete dust coming from the ceiling," airport authority chairman Graff said.

One airport director had called Terminal 2E, with its arched roof and sleek design, the "pride of the airport."

The terminal was used by national carrier Air France and several other international airlines, and handled about 60 flights a day. Those flights were being diverted to other terminals at the airport.

"The problem is not the flights, it's the number of passengers," Reuters quoted airport authority spokesman Jerome Dutrieux as saying.

"Some 20,000 to 25,000 people pass through it each day. The problem is how to manage this flow of travelers."


Source: cnn.com