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Explosion Triggers Façade Fire and Mass Evacuation in Marseille

A judicial inquiry has been opened to establish whether a gas bottle caused the blast.

Overview

  • An explosion on Boulevard Charpentier led to a fire that spread across the building façade from about the second to the fifth floor and was brought under control in less than 90 minutes.
  • Rescue teams evacuated roughly 50 to 60 people and the police set up a safety perimeter while a nearby sports complex was opened to shelter those displaced.
  • At least four of the six floors suffered smoke damage that left multiple apartments uninhabitable and the city arranged temporary housing support for affected families.
  • Only one person, a 38-year-old man, suffered minor smoke inhalation and did not need hospital transport while residents and a neighbor helped with early evacuations.
  • The Parquet de Marseille has opened a judicial inquiry to determine the cause of the blast and investigators are treating a gas-bottle explosion as a working hypothesis pending forensic results.