<p>A blast ripped through a street in the busy Latin Quarter of central Paris on Wednesday, causing the facade of one building to collapse, blowing out windows and starting a huge blaze.</p>.<p>At least 16 people were injured, including seven who are in a critical condition, police said.</p>.<p>The local deputy mayor, Edouard Civel, referred to a gas explosion in a Twitter post and witnesses told<em> BFM TV</em> there had been a strong smell of gas moments before the blast.</p>.<p>"I heard a huge explosion," said local bar employee Khal Ilsey. "And as I was leaving the restaurant, I saw flames at the end of Rue Saint-Jacques."</p>.<p>More than 200 firefighters were involved in the emergency response. TV images showed firefighters manning hoses and aiming jets of water at the blaze while a plume of thick black smoke billowed into the sky.</p>.<p>The blast occurred in the Rue Saint-Jacques in the 5th arrondissement of central Paris. The road leads from the Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral to the Sorbonne University and the Val de Grace military hospital and is a few blocks from the popular Jardin du Luxembourg.</p>.<p>The area is usually packed with tourists and foreign students in the early summer.</p>.<p>"I was at home writing...I thought it was a bomb," said art historian Monique Mosser, adding that many of the windows in her building had been blown out by the blast's shockwave.</p>.<p>"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."</p>.<p>In 2019, a gas leak caused an explosion which killed 4 people and injured 66 in the 9th arrondissement.</p>
<p>A blast ripped through a street in the busy Latin Quarter of central Paris on Wednesday, causing the facade of one building to collapse, blowing out windows and starting a huge blaze.</p>.<p>At least 16 people were injured, including seven who are in a critical condition, police said.</p>.<p>The local deputy mayor, Edouard Civel, referred to a gas explosion in a Twitter post and witnesses told<em> BFM TV</em> there had been a strong smell of gas moments before the blast.</p>.<p>"I heard a huge explosion," said local bar employee Khal Ilsey. "And as I was leaving the restaurant, I saw flames at the end of Rue Saint-Jacques."</p>.<p>More than 200 firefighters were involved in the emergency response. TV images showed firefighters manning hoses and aiming jets of water at the blaze while a plume of thick black smoke billowed into the sky.</p>.<p>The blast occurred in the Rue Saint-Jacques in the 5th arrondissement of central Paris. The road leads from the Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral to the Sorbonne University and the Val de Grace military hospital and is a few blocks from the popular Jardin du Luxembourg.</p>.<p>The area is usually packed with tourists and foreign students in the early summer.</p>.<p>"I was at home writing...I thought it was a bomb," said art historian Monique Mosser, adding that many of the windows in her building had been blown out by the blast's shockwave.</p>.<p>"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."</p>.<p>In 2019, a gas leak caused an explosion which killed 4 people and injured 66 in the 9th arrondissement.</p>