Diksia.com - On Wednesday (June 21, 2023), a total of 24 people were injured and 2 missing after an explosion ignited a fire in Paris.
The explosion destroyed two buildings, including a fashion school.
French Interior Minister Gerard Darmanin said the four injured were in a critical 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 in Paris, France.
About 70 fire engines and 230 firefighters worked to extinguish the blaze by Wednesday afternoon.
Paris police chief Laurent Nunes said at the scene that ambulance crews were searching the rubble for other possible victims.
“Firefighters managed to prevent the fire from spreading to two adjacent buildings, but the explosion made them very unstable and they evacuated,” Nunez said, according to Al Jazeera.
The mayor of Florence Berteau said the explosion was “devastating”, with shards of glass falling from the building.
The cause of the explosion was not clear.
Paris prosecutor Lauré Becueau said early signs that the explosion originated from inside the building.
Investigators will check whether the condition of the building violates regulations, whether someone has caused an accident, etc.
Research
Paris police immediately launched an investigation to determine the cause of the explosion in Paris.
Police are investigating a suspected gas leak that caused the building’s facade to collapse.
Two people are still missing and may have been trapped in the rubble as search and rescue teams are searching for them.
A Paris police official said on Wednesday (21 June 2023), citing 9 News, that “the facade of a building in the 5th arrondissement has collapsed and ambulance crews are still checking to see if there are people inside.” .
Sirens blared as ambulances passed through the neighborhood, but residents began to move freely again along the previously closed rue Saint-Jacques.
Associated Press reporters said smoke had stopped coming from the building where the explosion occurred.
The fire is likely to be extinguished on Wednesday night (June 21, 2023).
Witness
Witnesses at the scene said the fire started with a violent explosion and shaking.
Gemma Hulbert, owner of a butcher shop near the blast site, said she was upstairs to buy something when the explosion happened.
“I heard a ‘boom’ … so I went downstairs and found my husband in shock dusting the cash register and I said, wait, “I thought there was a problem,” she said.
“So I went outside and saw a big fire and I said it couldn’t be. I called my daughter. She was crying. She was in shock.”
Famous Greek-French filmmaker Costa-Gabras was among the witnesses at the scene.
“It was really loud and the house shook so much,” a 90-year-old man panicked told The Associated Press.
“We wondered what was going on. We thought it might be the (stormy) sky. This is no laughing matter,” he added.
