Developing | Two firefighters dead, 47 injured in powerful gas explosion, fire at Paris bakery
- Police say the incident blasted out windows and overturned cars, while witnesses described the overwhelming sound of the blast and people trapped inside nearby buildings
France’s interior minister says that two firefighters have been killed, and 47 have been injured in the blast at a bakery that was apparently caused by a gas leak in central Paris.
Christophe Castaner told reporters at the scene “unfortunately the human toll is particularly serious.”
He said 10 people are in critical condition and 37 others less seriously injured.
Earlier, Castaner told reporters at the scene that a total of four people, including two firefighters, were killed. He later corrected himself in a tweet.
Firefighters pulled injured victims out of windows and evacuated residents as smoke billowed over Rue de Trevise in the 9th arrondissement of north-central Paris.
Paris prosecutor Remy Heitz said the cause appeared to be an accidental gas leak. He said Paris firefighters were already at the scene to investigate a suspected gas leak at the bakery when the explosion happened.