Four people are in critical condition and two are believed to be trapped under rubble after an explosion started a blaze in central Paris. Police have said a total of 29 people have been injured, Ednews reports citing the Independent.
“The explosion was extremely violent,” said Florence Berthout, mayor for the fifth district of the city, where the explosion happened.
Journalist Olivier Galzi told BFM TV that he had seen the facade of a nearby building “completely collapse”. Police have urged people to avoid the area.
Interior minister Gerald Darmanin said the fire was in Rue Saint-Jacques in the 5th arrondissement, close to the Jardin du Luxembourg and the Sorbonne University.
Paris police spokeswoman Loubna Atta said it was too early to determine the source of the fire and could not confirm reports it was caused by a gas explosion.
Huge plumes of black smoke swelled into the air over the surrounding neighbourhood, but the fire has now been brought under control.
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21:40
The facade of a building in the 5th arrondissment, or district, collapsed and emergency services were working to determine if anyone was still inside, the Paris prosecutor's office said, adding that two people were missing, Ednews reports citing France 24.
The explosion hit a design school popular with foreign students near the historic Val de Grace military hospital, on the edge of the Latin Quarter.
Paris police chief Laurent Nunez told reporters there were 24 people injured, including four in a “critical condition”. The fire was contained but not extinguished, Nunez said.
Florence Berthout, the mayor of the arrondissement, spoke of an "extremely violent" blast, describing pieces of glass still falling from buildings.
Police spokeswoman Loubna Atta said it was too early to determine the source of the fire and could not confirm reports it was caused by a gas explosion.
Television images showed rubble from the Paris American Academy strewn across the Rue Saint-Jacques and smoke rising from at least two nearby buildings that were ablaze.
"I heard a huge explosion," local bar employee Khal Ilsey told Reuters. "And as I was leaving the restaurant, I saw flames at the end of Rue Saint-Jacques."
The blast occurred at 4:55 pm local time (1455 GMT), just as workers were heading home.
More than 200 firefighters were involved in the emergency response. TV images showed firefighters manning hoses and aiming jets of water at the blaze while a plume of thick black smoke billowed into the sky.
Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin urged people to stay away so as not to hinder emergency workers.
Rue Saint-Jacques leads from Notre-Dame Cathedral to the Sorbonne University and the Val de Grace, a few blocks from the popular Jardin du Luxembourg.
The area is usually packed with tourists and foreign students in the early summer.
"I was at home writing... I thought it was a bomb," said art historian Monique Mosser, adding that many of the windows in her building had been blown out by the blast's shock wave.
"A neighbour knocked on the door and told me that the fire brigade were asking us to evacuate as quickly as possible," Mosser added. "I grabbed my laptop, my phone. I didn't even think to take my medication."
