2023-08-05 19:22:00
Five people were injured on Saturday afternoon in an explosion in a building in the north of Paris, including one more seriously but his vital prognosis is not engaged, we learned from firefighters and police sources.
The facts may have echoed the explosion in rue Saint-Jacques on June 21, but they “are not at all of the same magnitude”, quickly pointed out to AFP a spokesperson for the Sapper Brigade. -Paris fire brigade (BSPP).
Around 2:30 p.m., an explosion not followed by a fire occurred at 26 rue du Nord, in the 18th arrondissement, in an apartment building whose facade was partially blown away, according to firefighters.
This narrow building had a gaping hole on its third floor, according to an AFP journalist on the spot.
Four people were taken care of in “relative emergency” and a fifth in “absolute emergency” but his vital prognosis is not engaged, said the firefighters and a police source.
The cause of the explosion was not known.
“A flagrant investigation was opened on the count of involuntary injuries followed by an incapacity of more than three months and entrusted to the police station of the 18th arrondissement,” the Paris prosecutor’s office told AFP. The investigations will “verify the accidental track”, according to a source close to the investigation.
Waiter at Fulano, a restaurant very close to the damaged building, Pedro Muñoz, 37, told AFP that he “heard a big boom, and a cloud of dust invaded the whole street”.
“I was sleeping, I felt a huge tremor and the sound of the explosion woke me up straight away,” said Nathan Hervet, 25, a temporary cable worker and resident of a building adjoining the place of the explosion. explosion, whose facelift had just been completed, he noted.
This neighbor said he saw a man with “a lot of ash on him” but not “the main injured, who was evacuated very quickly”.
“I saw people coming out of the building, they were a little stunned,” says Nathan.
“We don’t know when we’ll be able to return home, but personally tonight I’m not going to sleep there! Even if I have to go get the cat…”, he says.
The mayor of the 18th arrondissement, Eric Lejoindre, indicated on Twitter (renamed X) to do “everything since the accident to come to the aid and relocate all the evacuees”.
At the height of the intervention of the emergency services, a hundred firefighters, supported by twenty machines, were engaged, according to the BSPP. Staff had to stay on site for several hours to ensure that there was no risk of a fire starting.
On June 21, rue Saint-Jacques in the 5th arrondissement, a building housing a fashion school collapsed following an explosion that caused a fire, killing three people and injuring several dozen.
This drama was reminiscent of that of January 12, 2019. That day, a strong explosion caused by a gas leak had blown up a building on rue de Trévise, in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, killing four people including two firefighters, injuring 66 others and leaving some 400 victims.
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05/08/2023 20:14:41 – Paris (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
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