The explosion was recorded at around 5pm on Wednesday in the central 5th arrondissement of Paris, not far from the famous  Jardin du Luxemburg.

LATEST on the Paris gas explosion

Prosecutor Laure Beccuau said: “the initial investigation by the City of Paris cameras points to an explosion originating in the building (which houses the Paris American Academy)”.

Where did it happen?

The academy is housed at 277 Rue Saint-Jacques, in the 5th arrondissement. The three-storey building has been partially destroyed, with rubble strewn across the street.

Une énorme #explosion à #Paris ! Tout un quartier ravagé. Vidéo envoyé par une amie. pic.twitter.com/7nA9T6qCwL

— Mat (@Namat_12) June 21, 2023

Several neighbouring buildings caught fire while others were damaged in the explosion. Paris City Hall has confirmed that around 20 families will need to be rehoused as their apartments are too badly damaged to return to.

The final injury toll was 37, with fur people in a critical condition. A search through the rubble was called off at 2am once everyone was accounted for.

What is the Paris American Academy?

Founded in 1965 by Richard Roy, the Paris American Academy is a small private fashion and design school that offers courses in both English and French – it takes up to 75 students at a time. 

It describes itself as “Paris’ First Bilingual Design School in the Latin Quarter” and offers range of higher education programmes catering especially to international students. The school’s website says offers everything from “3-year programmess and semester programmess to summer workshops.”

Classes are mainly held in the Pavilion du Val de Grace, a 17^th century building.

Courses on offer include fashion, interior design, fine arts and creative writing. 

The school is popular with foreign students, many of whom had been working on projects for Paris men’s Fashion Week this week. 

Many American exchange students also attend, notably those from Dominican University in Chicago and Kent State University in Ohio. 

Completely horrified by the explosion in Paris, I’ve taught at the Paris American Academy, that’s my old neighborhood, what the fuck

— Lauren Elkin (@LaurenElkin) June 21, 2023

Kent State University said that nine of its students were attending a summer programme at the Academy and all are safe.

Kent spokesman Eric Mansfield added that plans are being made for the students to return early to the US.

How did the explosion occur?

Investigations are ongoing into exactly what happened, but police were quick to reveal that the suspected cause is a gas leak.

Paris has been the target of repeated terror attacks, but it appears this was not the case here.

Several locals have reported smelling gas immediately around the time of the explosion.