A bomb in Paris has injured at least 37 people.
Search teams use sniffer dogs to detect victims and survivors amidst the debris.
The ancient Latin Quarter of Paris was in the epicenter of an explosion on Wednesday, and rescuers were looking for two persons who may be trapped under the debris.
At least 37 persons were injured, four critically, when an explosion went off in the late afternoon on Rue Saint-Jacques, which connects Notre Dame de Paris Cathedral with the Sorbonne University.
Sniffer dogs, according to Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, have detected something hidden behind the pile of rubble on Rue Saint-Jacques.
Darmanin informed reporters at the scene of the explosion, “It is possible tonight that we will find bodies or perhaps survivors.”
The building housing the Paris American Academy, a popular design school among international students, was severely damaged in the bomb.
There was a massive explosion, with a blaze several floors high, according to eyewitnesses.
A protective cordon was set up around the area with the help of the soldiers.
It is too soon to tell what caused the explosion, according to the Paris prosecutor’s office.
Witnesses claimed BFM TV they smelled gas just before the explosion, and the local deputy mayor, Edouard Civel, had mentioned a gas explosion on Twitter.
“The shop shook violently, it felt like bomb blast,” claimed Rahman Oliur, manager of a food shop a few doors down the street from the American Academy.
Khal Ilsey, an employee at a local bar, claims he heard a “huge explosion” and then ran outside to discover a raging fire at the street’s end.
Embers and ashes
It was 4:55 p.m. (14:55 GMT) when the blast happened, right as workers were leaving for the day. Tourists and international students flock to the area in the spring and early summer, but initial reports did not indicate that any non-native speakers were among the dead.
Quite a few surrounding structures required evacuation. First responders were still treating people for shock more than two hours after the blast. One of the women passed out on the sidewalk.
Prosecutor Laure Beccuau of Paris said initial investigations point to the collapsed structure as the source of the explosion. He also said that authorities will look into whether or not the building’s conditions were illegal or whether or not someone had acted negligently.
More than 300 firemen worked to extinguish the fires.
The beautiful Jardin du Luxembourg is just a few steps away from the military hospital Val de Grace on Rue Saint-Jacques, which runs through the Latin Quarter, famous as the home of many expatriate and French writers, musicians, and artists throughout the years.
Art historian Monique Mosser claimed, “I was at home writing… I thought it was a bomb,” and that the shockwave had blown out many of the windows in her building.
A neighbor came to my door and informed me that we needed to leave immediately because of the fire department. So, I got my computer and my phone out. My forgetfulness prevented me from obtaining my medication.
Four persons were murdered and sixty-six were injured in an explosion in the 9th arrondissement in January 2019. The explosion was triggered by a gas leak. The Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris caught fire in April of that year, severely damaging the building before it was brought under control.
