An apparent gas explosion rocked an office building close to the stock exchange in central Paris today, damaging the structure and injuring 17 people, police and firefighters said.
Police said the blast, which occurred at 10.52 a.m. (Irish time) in Rue d'Uzes in the second arrondissement was likely due to a gas explosion and did not appear to be a deliberate attack.
"It is probably a gas explosion, not a bomb. That is not the line we are taking," said a police spokesman.
Mr Christian Decolloredo, a fire service spokesman, said 17 people had been injured, three of them seriously. Paris police confirmed those figures.
"It happened on the third, fourth or fifth floor. There is debris everywhere. We are working very hard. We are trying to see if anybody is trapped underneath," Mr Decolloredo said.
Around 140 firefighters were on the scene to help free people from the building, which contained offices for businesses including lawyers, a consumer organisation and a clothing company.
"The blast sent shutters, debris and glass onto the buildings across the street," said Paris police chief MR Jean-Paul Proust, on French television station LCI.
"We saw three women that appeared to have blood on their faces climbing down a fireman's ladder," he added.
Firemen, some wearing oxygen tanks, climbed ladders to the top of the building, in a narrow street near the Paris bourse.
Police sealed off streets around the building, which appeared intact from the end of Rue d'Uzes. Neighbouring buildings were evacuated.