17 injured as Paris gas explosion rocks residential building

A gas explosion at a residential building in Paris has left at least 17 people injured.

Local residents were evacuated after the blast, which reportedly left a firefighter seriously injured.

The Local reports that the explosion destroyed several floors of an apartment building on Rue Bérite in the sixth arrondissement of Paris at around 12.20pm on Friday.

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According to RT News, two students from Ferrandi college told AFP: "We heard a loud explosion and saw smoke.

And a local resident said: "I felt my floor shake and heard a loud noise, then it smelled like smoke outside.

"There are a lot of people in the streets and I can hear a lot of sirens."

The blast was ruled as accidental and was traced to a fire that caused a gas stove to blow up.