A massive explosion in central Paris has injured 37 persons, with four of them critically wounded.
According to reports, the explosion occurred at a building that housed a design school and the headquarters of the Catholic education system on Rue Saint-Jacques in Paris’s fifth arrondissement.
Emergency personnel are combing through the wreckage of the structure, with one person still missing.
According to witnesses, there was a strong smell of gas before the blast.
Local deputy mayor, Edouard Civel, said on social media the cause was a “gas explosion.”
However, authorities said the cause of the blast had not yet been determined.
Meanwhile, Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said after arriving at the scene that initial checks of camera footage suggested the explosion occurred within the building, which was next to the Val de Grâce church.
The building was initially engulfed by fire, but the blaze was later brought under control, said Paris police chief, Laurent Nunez.
The area has been cordoned off and Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin has been to the scene.
According to Paris’ first deputy mayor, Emmanuel Grégoire, one of the two missing individuals has been located at a hospital,
Rescuers are still looking for one more individual, he added.
The Latin Quarter, a tourist destination and region of Paris’ Left Bank famed for its student population, is south of where the explosion occurred.
