PARIS, June 22 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A blast and major fire in central Paris on Wednesday injured 24 people, including four seriously, as two buildings, including one housing a fashion school, collapsed, police said.
Earlier, police had put the number of injured at 16, including seven seriously.
According to French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, four of the injured are in a life-threatening condition.
The explosion and fire occurred near the Val-de-Grace military hospital in the 5th arrondissement, also known as the Latin Quarter, on the Left Bank of the Seine.
About 70 fire trucks and 230 firefighters battled the blaze, which was contained by the early evening.
Paris police chief Laurent Nunez said at the scene that emergency crews were searching the rubble for any other potential victims.
The firefighters “prevented the spread of the fire to two adjoining buildings, which were seriously destabilised by the explosion” and “were evacuated”, Nunez added.
Florence Berthout, mayor of the arrondissement, said “the explosion was extremely violent” and described pieces of glass falling from buildings.
The cause of the blast was not immediately clear, but Paris Prosecutor Laure Beccuau said early indications were that the blast originated inside the building. Investigators would look into whether building conditions were in breach of regulations or if someone had caused an accident.
Police were working to keep people away from the site.
In 2019, a gas leak caused an explosion that killed four people and injured 66 in the 9th arrondissement.
The shockwave blew out scores of nearby windows, and dozens of families were forced to evacuate their homes for months. Much of the street still remains off limits four years after the disaster.
The Paris city government has been charged with involuntary manslaughter over that blast, and legal wrangling over the exact cause continues. — NNN-AGENCIES
