Six days after a collapsed building in Paris was destroyed by explosions and fire, a body was found on Tuesday among the rubble, a person familiar with the matter told AFP.
release:
Emergency services have been searching for a missing woman since last Wednesday’s blast, but the source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the body was too charred to be immediately identified.
Last week, a source with knowledge of the search told AFP that the missing person was a teacher at the Fashion School of the American Academy in Paris, on the left bank, a tourist attraction in the city.
“The Parisian” stated that she had taught at the academy for 20 years and was on the third floor of the building when the explosion occurred.
The cause of the blast was unclear, but several witnesses reported smelling gas minutes before the explosion.
Le Parisien said the academy’s dean, Peter Carman, was among the most seriously injured and had to cut the power when a smell of gas wafted through the building.
The explosion and subsequent fire shook busy rue Saint-Jacques just before 5:00 pm (1500GMT) on Wednesday, destroying the 17th-century building, which is listed as a historic monument.
According to prosecutors, the explosion injured 58 people, four of them life-threatening.
The students were outside watching the Paris Fashion Week show, avoiding further casualties.
Paris prosecutors are investigating whether the explosion was caused by a failure to observe safety norms.
The search for the destroyed building was halted over the weekend, while a nearby building in danger of collapsing was stabilized.
(AFP)