Rescue workers combed through debris in central Paris on Thursday, a day later a powerful explosion ripped through a building on the Left Bank and injured about 50 people, some of them critically.
Authorities in Paris say one person is still missing after an explosion that rocked the French capital Wednesday night and damaged much of a building on Rue Saint-Jacques, in the 5th arrondissement, leaving a piles of wooden beams and charred stones. rubble.
Official information on the identities of the victims was not immediately available. But the building is home to a small art and fashion school called American Academy Parisand on it Facebook pageThe school said its president, Peter Carman, was hospitalized in Paris after the explosion and was in critical condition and under anesthesia.
The health status of three of the school’s professors is unknown, but most students appear to be safe, the school said.
The explosion started a fire that was quickly brought under control by hundreds of firefighters. Most of the injuries were minor, but the Paris prosecutor’s office said on Thursday that six people were still in critical condition.
François Braun, France’s health minister, told the BFMTV news channel that some of the victims suffered impact injuries after they were thrown back by the explosion, while others were injured by the flames.
“The worst victims suffered extremely severe burns,” Mr. Braun said.
Prosecutors have opened an investigation into the explosion, whose origin is unclear. Bad play is not a leading theory, but authorities have not confirmed suspicions that a gas leak was the cause.
Many apartment buildings in Paris use gas for heating and other purposes, and although deadly explosions from leaks are uncommon, they are not unheard of.
In 2019, a gas explosion tear down a bakery in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. That explosion killed four people, including two firefighters, and injured dozens more, raising questions about the safety of gas infrastructure in the French capital. That comes three years later an explosion caused by a gas leak in District 6 tore off the roof of an apartment building and injured 17 people.
Under rain on the Rue Saint-Jacques on Thursday, security forces organized a perimeter around the site of the explosion, worrying Parisians, after the initial noise and chaos brought with it flashbacks of the explosion. deadly terrorist attack hit the city in 2015.
Some people living in several neighboring apartment buildings have yet to return after being evacuated as a precaution.
Florence Berthout, mayor of District 5, told BFMTV three children were among those with minor injuries but 12 students who were supposed to be at the scene left that afternoon to visit an exhibition. exhibit with their professor.
The American Academy Paris is a small school founded in 1965 for students pursuing a career in art or fashion. It describes itself as “the first bilingual design school of the French capital, located in the Latin Quarter of Paris.”
Nine of the students at American Academy Paris are from Kent State University, Ohio, and are in the French capital for a month-long fashion class. All of those students are safe and will be returning to the United States a few days early, the university said in a statement. declare.
Todd Diacon, principal of Kent State University, said: “We are grateful and relieved to know that our Kent State students are safe and protected. “This incident happened late in the day and the students left the building for an outside activity. Our thoughts are with the other individuals injured in the explosion.”
