David Bangura via Reuters
Multiple people were injured from a powerful explosion and fire at a bakery in central Paris on Saturday.
- Four people, including two firefighters, are dead from a powerful explosion and fire at a central Paris bakery on Saturday.
- An additional 45 people are injured, of whom nine are in critical condition.
- The blast was apparently caused by an accidental gas leak.
- The impact was so strong that it blasted out windows and overturned cars on the street.
- Paris is under heavy security over the weekend for yellow vest protests around the country.
The death toll from a powerful blast at a bakery in central Paris on Saturday has risen to four people, including two firefighters, the Associated Press reported.
After nearly a day of searching, the Associated Press reported Sunday firefighters found a body under rubble at the site of the explosion, bringing the total fatalities to four people.
Paris Fire Department spokesman Eric Moulin told reporters Sunday that 45 people were injured and 9 were still in critical condition.
He had previously said that authorities were searching for a missing woman living in the building where the bakery was located.
The explosion blasted out windows and overturned cars, French authorities said.
Firefighters pulled injured victims out of windows and evacuated residents as smoke billowed over Rue de Trevise in the 9th arrondissement of north-central Paris.
Benoit Tessier/Reuters
The impact was so strong that it blasted out windows and overturned cars on the street. Firemen at the site of the explosion on Saturday.
Paris prosecutor Remy Heitz said that the cause appears to be an accidental gas leak. He said that Paris firefighters were already at the scene to investigate a suspected gas leak at the bakery when the explosion happened.
An investigation was opened to determine the exact cause of the blast, he said.
Benoit Tessier/Reuters
An investigation was opened to determine the exact cause of the blast, Paris prosecutor said.
Witnesses described the overwhelming sound of the blast and people trapped inside nearby buildings. Charred debris and broken glass covered the pavement around the apartment building housing the bakery, which resembled a blackened carcass.
Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said "the situation is under control." After visiting the scene, he described his "shock" at seeing the damage, and said around 200 firefighters and police were involved in the operation.
A helicopter landed in the area to evacuate the wounded. Silver-helmeted firefighters and red firetrucks filled the street and inspected adjoining courtyards. A vehicle from gas company GRDF was stationed nearby.
Benoit Tessier/Reuters
An employee at the nearby Hotel Mercure (pictured on right hand side) said he "felt a lot of things fall on me" and that he was struck by shattered glass.
Pedro Goncalves, an employee at the Hotel Mercure opposite the bakery, said he saw firefighters enter the bakery in the morning but he and his co-workers "thought maybe it's a joke, a false alarm" and they went back to work. About an hour later, he said a blast rocked the surrounding streets.
"In the middle of nothing, I heard one big explosion and then a lot of pressure came at me (and) a lot of black smoke and glass," he said. "And I had just enough time to get down and cover myself and protect my head."
Goncalves said he "felt a lot of things fall on me" and that he was struck by shattered glass. He had a few cuts on his head, and spots of blood on his sweater and undershirt.
"Thank god I'm OK," he said, saying that the blast was so powerful that he heard whistling in his ears in the aftermath. Goncalves said that he ran for the exit and then went to check on the hotel's clients, adding that some of them had head injuries and were bleeding. He said that the hotel was "destroyed" in the blast.
Benoit Tessier/Reuters
Firemen at the site of the explosion. Firefighters were injured.
Another witness told The Associated Press that she was awakened by the blast, and feared it was another terrorist attack.
The bakery is around the corner from the Folies-Bergere theater and not far from the shopping district that includes the famed headquarters of Galeries Lafayette.
The explosion came as the French capital is on edge and under heavy security for yellow vest protests around the country.
Milos Krivokapic and Mstyslav Chernov in Paris, and Frank Griffiths and Nishit Morsawala in London, contributed to this report.