One person is still missing after an explosion tore through a building in the center of Paris on Thursday. Another six people suffered critical injuries and rescue workers are still sifting through the rubble.
French prosecutors say nearly 50 people were injured in the explosion and collapse on Rûe Saint Jacques street. The explosion is thought to have been caused by a gas leak.
“One of the two people who were searched for in the rubble has in fact already arrived at a hospital for treatment,” says the state prosecutor’s office.
“The search for the second person continues.”
The explosion rocked the city on Wednesday afternoon.
“It was terrible. I thought it was an earthquake. Everything shook,” said Violeta Garesteaw, a caretaker in one of the nearby buildings, as she swept up broken glass.
“A lot of windows broke and we had to put up plastic covers because it was raining,” she says.
The shock wave shattered windows up to 400 m from the blast.
This also caused a big fire and then the collapse of the building. A private fashion school called the Paris American Academy uses the building. According to the mother of one of the students, the classrooms were deserted at the time of the explosion, because the students were attending the Paris fashion week.
“The toll could have been much higher,” Paris’s deputy mayor, Emmanuel Gregoire, told French radio station FranceInfo.
About 70 fire engines and 270 firefighters brought the flames under control.
On Thursday, the security cordon around the building was reduced and journalists and onlookers were able to take a closer look at the rubble opposite the Val-de-Grace Army Hospital.
A single fire hose was still used to spray the debris and several surrounding shops opened their doors again.
Smell of gas
It was a huge explosion. More than 35 people were injured. #Paris #ParisExplosion https://t.co/ZffaOKKUf1 pic.twitter.com/8pOEGQlhmJ
— Bhavishyat.Org (@BhavishyatOrg) June 22, 2023
A gas leak was blamed for the explosion and several eyewitnesses said they smelled gas just before the explosion.
However, officials say they do not yet have enough evidence to say with certainty what caused the explosion.
“One of my colleagues noticed a strong smell of gas and went outside to investigate,” says Philippe Delorme, the head of France’s Catholic education association whose office is located just next to the building.
He told radio station RMC just as their bookkeeper wanted to call the emergency number of the gas company, the explosion occurred.
“We naturally rely on the victims to give us the initial information for the investigation and understanding of what happened,” Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said at the scene.
The explosion also caused extensive structural damage to two adjacent buildings and forced residents to leave the premises.
There have already been several gas-related incidents in the French capital. In January 2019, a suspected leaking gas pipe destroyed a building on the Rûe de Trevise in an incident that claimed four lives, including those of two firefighters. The shock wave blew out many windows and dozens of families have not yet been able to return to their homes because construction work is still ongoing.
Moreover, a large part of the street is still blocked off years after the disaster and court cases regarding the causes of the explosion are delaying the payment of millions of rands in compensation to victims.
