Seven in critical condition after Paris street rocked by explosion

At least seven people are in critical condition after a suspected gas explosion in Paris.

Footage shows firefighters tackling flames rising from a building on the Left Bank of the French capital.

Interior minister Gerald Darmanin said on Twitter the incident happened on Rue Saint-Jacques in the fifth arrondissement, close to the Jardin Du Luxembourg and Sorbonne University.

Smoke can be seen rising above the domed Pantheon, prompting the evacuation of buildings in the neighbourhood.

Local media reported that alongside those in critical condition, nine more people were injured.

Florence Berthout, mayor of the fifth arrondissement, confirmed that four were in ‘absolute emergency’ condition.

‘The explosion was extremely violent,’ she said, adding that shards of glass are still falling from buildings.

A police official said the façade of one building had crumbled onto the street as a result of the blast.

Emergency workers can still be seen at the scene, trying to determine if there are people trapped inside.

Meanwhile, members of the public have been urged to avoid the area, which has been cordoned off.

At least 200 firefighters are involved in the immediate response in the area, which is usually packed with tourists and foreign students in the early summer.

‘I was at home writing. I thought it was a bomb,’ said Monique Mosser, an art historian.

‘A neighbour knocked on the door and told me that the fire brigade were asking us to evacuate as quickly as possible.

‘I grabbed my laptop, my phone. I didn’t even think to take get my medication.’

She added that many of the windows in her building had been blown out by the blast’s shockwave.

Paris police spokesperson Loubna Atta stressed it was too early to determine the source of the fire and could not confirm reports a gas explosion was behind it.

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