Paris bakery blast: At least four dead in explosion after gas leak
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.