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This is pretty remarkable video taken by an injured person from the window of his apartment directly across from the bakery that exploded in Paris, France today (Saturday). At least two firefighters were killed in the explosion and many others injured, some critically. News coverage indicates the firefighters were on the scene of the gas leak for as long as an hour before the explosion occurred.
Angela Charton, AP via USA Today:
French authorities said two firefighters were killed and 47 people injured in a powerful explosion and fire apparently caused by a gas leak at a Paris bakery Saturday that blasted out windows and overturned cars.
Firefighters pulled injured victims from windows and evacuated residents as smoke billowed over Rue de Trevise in the 9th arrondissement of north-central Paris.
The Paris prosecutor’s office said that two firefighters have been killed in the bakery blast, correcting the overall figure of four dead given earlier by France’s interior minister.
Authorities said 10 people were in critical condition and 37 others less seriously injured.
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.
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.”
