Huge explosion rocks France’s capital Paris

A gas explosion took place in the fifth arrondissement of Paris, resulting in a fire affecting some buildings, the mayor of the arrondissement said on Twitter.

Paris police urged people to avoid the area.

At least seven people were critically injured in the explosion, police said.

The 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.

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Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said the fire was locted on Rue Saint-Jacques in the 5th arrondissement close to the Jardin du Luxembourg and the Sorbonne University.

BFM TV showed fire services sealing off the hire and trying to hose down a building, and Parisians posted images on Twitter of a huge plume of smoke that was visible across much of the city.

Journalist Olivier Galzi told BFM TV that he had seen the facade of a nearby building “completely collapse.”

“This is chaos,” said Christopher Gaglione, who said he witnessed the scene.

“I heard a huge explosion,” said local bar employee Khal Ilsey. “And as I was leaving the restaurant, I saw flames at the end of Rue Saint-Jacques.”

More than 200 firefighters were involved in the emergency response. TV images showed firefighters manning hoses and aiming jets of water at the blaze while a plume of thick black smoke billowed into the sky.

The blast occurred in the Rue Saint-Jacques in the 5th arrondissement of central Paris. The road leads from the Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral to the Sorbonne University and the Val de Grace military hospital and is a few blocks from the popular Jardin du Luxembourg.

The area is usually packed with tourists and foreign students in the early summer.