Paris explosion injures at least 29 as residents evacuate buildings
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A massive gas explosion in a private school on Paris’ Left Bank left 29 people injured — including seven who officials said remain in “emergency condition.”
The blast erupted Wednesday afternoon on Place Alphonse-Laveran in the 5th arrondissement, completely demolishing the building on the scenic street and sending fire and smoke billowing over the city.
It occurred at the Paris American Academy, an international school focused on preparing students for careers in the arts. Up to two people were initially reported missing, and it remains unclear if they have been located.
Photos showed a scene of destruction on the street, with splintered beams and floor planks burning in a pyre of carnage, while a plume of smoke towered over the historic dome of the nearby Val de Grace military hospital.
Windows throughout the neighborhood were shattered and rattled, and some nearby residents said the explosion’s force was so powerful that doors in their homes were slammed shut.
“It felt like an earthquake, the windows banged against each other,” a woman who was about a quarter-mile from the blast told CNN.
Nearly 300 firefighters were deployed to the scene to fight the fire, which Paris Police Chief Laurent Nunez said was contained but continued to burn after the blast.
“The explosion was extremely violent,” said 5th arrondissement Mayor Florence Berthout, who described pieces of glass blown away from the blast continuing to fall from nearby buildings onto the street below.
The neighborhood was cordoned off, and the Paris prosecutor said an investigation was being opened into “aggravated involuntary injury,” and whether it may have involved violations of safety codes.
A student named Achille was about 100 yards from the school when the explosion occurred.
“I was sitting on the windowsill, and we moved 2 meters away from the window, carried by a small blast [from the explosion] and huge fear,” he told BFM television. His last name was not given.
“We came down [from the building] and saw the flames,” he said. “The police gave us great support and we evacuated quickly.”
Gas explosions are not uncommon in Paris’ aging infrastructure.
In January 2019, four people were killed and dozens more injured after an explosion rocked the 9th district.
With Post wires
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