50 people have been injured and one person still missing from an explosion at an academy in Paris, the French capital.
According to the Paris prosecutor’s office on Thursday, Six people are still in serious condition following a gas explosion in central Paris on Wednesday.
The explosion which is reported to have rocked the Paris American Academy led to about 50 people getting injured in the incident, although the Paris prosecutor’s office, which is investigating the blast, said the number may not be final.
According to Paris police director Laurent Nunez, 270 firefighters were dispatched to the scene of the incident near Rue Saint Jacques in the city’s fifth arrondissement and extinguished the fire within two hours.
According to Francois Braun, France’s health minister, some of those injured had “extremely significant burns,” while others have “significant traumatic injuries” as a result of the explosion.
On Wednesday, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin visited the explosion scene. He stated that it was unknown how the explosion occurred and that there was no notice before the tragedy.
Video clips showed a part of the building collapse following the blast and fire. Smoke was seen billowing from the rubble earlier on Wednesday as rescue workers attempted to tackle the blaze.
Paris American Academy, a fashion and design school, prides itself as the “first bilingual design school” in the French capital on its website.
Authorities also barred residents from returning to their houses in the adjacent areas in the aftermath of the explosion.
One woman, who identified herself as Anne, told a newsman at the scene that she was inside her flat, around 500 meters (1,640 feet) from the explosion when it occurred.
“It felt like an earthquake, the windows banged against each other,” she said.
Authorities in Paris have opened an emergency response unit to handle the aftermath of the explosion.
Paris authorities have established an emergency reaction squad to deal with the aftermath of the incident.
Reacting to the blast, French President Emmanuel Macron at the kicking off of a Music Day concert at Elysée on Wednesday stated that “In celebrating music today, we are also thinking of [the victims] and all those who are going through a difficult time.
