[1/6] French police secure the area as firefighters work after several buildings on fire following a gas explosion in the fifth arrondissement of Paris, France, June 21, 2023.
REUTERS/Gonzalo FuentesPARIS, June 21 (Reuters) - A blast ripped through a street in the busy Latin Quarter of central Paris, causing the facade of one building to collapse, blowing out windows and starting a huge blaze.
The local deputy mayor, Edouard Civel, referred to a gas explosion in a Twitter post and witnesses told BFM TV there had been a strong smell of gas moments before the blast.
The blast occurred in the Rue Saint-Jacques in the 5th arrondissement of central Paris.
In 2019, a gas leak caused an explosion which killed 4 people and injured 66 in the 9th arrondissement.
Persons:
Gonzalo Fuentes PARIS, Edouard Civel, BFM, Khal Ilsey, Jacques, Val de Grace, Monique Mosser, Michel Rose, Sudip Kar, Tassilo Hummel, Juliette Jabkhiro, Elizabeth Pineau, Jean, Michel Belot, Angus MacSwan
Organizations:
REUTERS, Rue Saint, Notre, Dame, Paris, Sorbonne University, du, Thomson
Locations:
Paris, France, Rue, du Luxembourg