PARIS, May 23: Six people were killed when a roof collapsed at a new terminal at Roissy-Charles de Gaulle international airport near Paris on Sunday, triggering a search for trapped survivors and questions about safety.

Slabs of concrete and metal crashed onto a seated waiting area in the less than one-year-old showcase terminal 2E just before 7 a.m. (0500 GMT), bringing down a raised walkway at one of the world's busiest airports.

The collapse left a hole of 50 metres by 30 metres in the long, tunnel-like building. Rescue workers with dogs searched through glass, concrete and metal and listened for anyone trapped underneath.

"Time is a factor. We have to get to the injured as quickly as possible," said Paris fire brigade spokesman Laurent Vibert. "It seems to have happened very quickly some people heard a noise before it happened.

Another fire-fighter said: "It's like a scene after an earthquake." The French government ruled out a terror attack but said the cause of the accident was unknown. -Reuters