Police investigate the cause

The facade of the building in the 5th arrondissement collapsed and officials said rescuers were searching for two people who may have been trapped inside. The explosion occurred near the historic Val de Grace military hospital, in one of the most upscale neighborhoods of the French capital.

Firefighters at the scene of an explosion in Paris, France. Photo: XYZ

About 270 firefighters and 70 ambulances were dispatched to the scene. The fire has been brought under control but is still not out. The explosion occurred as bars and restaurants in Paris held their annual city-wide music festival on the summer solstice.

Firefighters are searching for two people believed to have been inside the building at the time of the explosion, Florence Berthout, the mayor of the district, told French television channel BFM. “The explosion was extremely violent,” she said.

A Paris police official said four of the injured were in critical condition. The injuries were mainly caused by the shockwave of the explosion.

Jema Halbert, who owns a butcher shop near the site of the explosion, said she heard a 'boom'...

"I went downstairs and saw my husband in shock. I went outside and saw the huge fire and I said, this is impossible. I called my daughter. She was crying and in shock," she said.

A judicial official said they were still investigating and a gas leak could be a cause.

Renowned French-Greek filmmaker Costa-Gavras was one of the witnesses at the scene.

“There was a loud noise and the house shook,” the 90-year-old recalled. “We thought, what is going on? We thought it was thunder signaling a storm.”

Paris prosecutors said they were investigating whether the explosion was caused by violations of safety rules. Prosecutor Laure Beccuau said they would “determine whether there were signs of disregard for safety rules or of personal recklessness that led to the explosion.”

Two neighboring buildings were “severely destabilized” by the blast and had to be evacuated, Nunez said. The blast blew out several windows in the area, witnesses and the police chief said.

After the explosion, a student at the private school said he was in a building about 100 meters away when the explosion occurred.

“I was sitting on the windowsill and we were terrified when we saw the explosion,” student Achille told BFM TV. “We went down to the street and saw the fire. The police helped us a lot and we evacuated quickly.”

Trung Kien (according to AP)

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/no-lon-o-paris-canh-sat-dieu-tra-nguyen-nhan-post252721.html