The reason behind the blast was not instantly identified.
The facade of a constructing within the fifth arrondissement, or district, collapsed and emergency companies have been working to find out if anybody was nonetheless inside, a Paris police official mentioned.
The explosion hit close to the historic Val de Grace navy hospital.
Paris police chief Laurent Nunez advised reporters there have been 16 individuals injured, together with seven in and “emergency condition”.
The authorities didn’t specify whether or not the injured have been in a life-threatening situation.
The hearth was contained however not extinguished, Nunez mentioned.
The police official described a number of accidents, a few of them essential, however didn’t present a precise determine as emergency employees continued their search.
Florence Berthout, mayor of the arrondissement, mentioned “the explosion was extremely violent”, describing items of glass nonetheless falling from buildings.
The odor of smoke lingered within the air whereas the gray plume visibly lessened as firefighters battled the blaze.
The neighbourhood was cordoned off and scores of emergency employees, police and troopers stuffed the world.
Paris police spokeswoman Loubna Atta mentioned it was too early to find out the supply of the fireplace and couldn’t verify studies it was a brought on by a fuel explosion.
Achille, a scholar, mentioned he was in a constructing about 100 metres from the explosion.
“I was sitting on the windowsill, and we moved two metres away from the window, carried by a small blast (from the explosion) and huge fear,” he advised BFM tv, with out stating his final identify.
“We came down (from the building) and saw the flames,” he mentioned.
“The police gave us great support and we evacuated quickly.”
Source: www.9news.com.au
