France's interior minister says that four people have been killed, including two firefighters, and 47 have been injured in the blast at a bakery that was apparently caused by a gas leak in central Paris.Christophe Castaner told reporters at the scene "unfortunately the human toll is particularly serious."
France's interior minister says that four people have been killed, including two firefighters, and 47 have been injured in the blast at a bakery that was apparently caused by a gas leak in central Paris.Christophe Castaner told reporters at the scene "unfortunately the human toll is particularly serious."
He said 10 people are in critical condition and 37 others less seriously injured.He paid homage to the courage of rescuers who saved the life of one firefighter who was buried under the rubble for two and a half hours.Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, who was also at the scene, extended a "message of affection and solidarity" to the victims.
Police were on high alert in the French capital for a ninth consecutive Saturday of "yellow vest" protests, with large parts of the city centre blocked off by riot police. In recent years France has suffered jihadist militant attacks in Paris, Nice, Marseille and beyond. But the Paris prosecutor Remi Heitz was quick to rule out foul play.
"We still need to determine the circumstances and cause of the explosion but at this stage we can say it is clearly an accident, presumably a gas leak," he told reporters. A police source said the explosion tore apart a bakery on the rue Trevise in the Grands Boulevards district. The force of the blast shattered nearby storefronts and rocked buildings hundreds of metres away, witnesses said.
1. Scene of a gas leak explosion in Paris
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The scene of a gas leak explosion in Paris, France. A powerful explosion and fire apparently caused by a gas leak at a Paris bakery Saturday injuring more than 40 people blasted out windows and overturned cars, French authorities said.
Photo by: Matthieu Croissandeau via AP
2. Blast happened during city's rush hour
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A vehicle is overturned amid debris after the explosion of a bakery on the corner of the streets Saint-Cecile and Rue de Trevise in central Paris. -A large explosion badly damaged a bakery in central Paris on January 12, injuring several people and smashing windows in surrounding buildings. A fire broke out after the blast at around 9am (0800 GMT) in the busy 9th district of the city, which police suspect may have been caused by a gas leak.
Photo by Thomas SAMSON / AFP
3. 200 firefighters joined the rescue operation
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More than 200 firefighters joined the rescue operation and two helicopters landed on the nearby Place de l'Opera to evacuate victims. Firefighters evacuate a wounded man on a stretcher from the scene of a gas leak explosion.
Photo by: AP Photo/Thibault Camus
4. "Windows were shattered up to the third and fourth floors"
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Firefighters extinguish a fire after the explosion of a bakery on the corner of the streets Saint-Cecile and Rue de Trevise in central Paris. An eyewitness at a hotel nearby said he saw a huge fire erupt in the building blown out by the blast."There was broken glass everywhere, storefronts were blown out and windows were shattered up to the third and fourth floors," said 38-year-old David Bangura.
Photo by: Thomas SAMSON / AFP
5. Firefighters at the site
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More than 200 firefighters joined the rescue operation and two helicopters landed on the nearby Place de l'Opera to evacuate victims. "The situation is now under control," Interior Minister Christophe Castaner told reporters on the scene.
Photo by: Reuters
