HUGE GAS BLAST SHATTERS FASHIONABLE PARIS DISTRICT
TWELVE people have been injured — five of them critically — after a massive explosion in central Paris.
The blast and subsequent fire, caused by a gas leak at a bakery, destroyed several buildings in the historic 9th arrondissement.
French journalists at the scene said the windows of buildings were blown out.
Despite initial fears of a terror attack police quickly ruled the blast was caused by a gas leak in a patisserie.
Firefighters and police evacuated people from the damaged buildings and dozens of fire trucks raced to contain the blaze.
Several people were led down from upper floors on ladders pushed up on the outside of the building.
There were no immediate reports of fatalities.
The blast rattled an already apprehensive city, which was on lockdown across the CBD due to the weekly violent protests by the gilet jaunes , or “yellow jackets’’ who are seeking to unseat French President Emmanuel Macron.