Several neighbors claim to have heard sounds of explosions in the afternoon preceding the tragic fire which broke out on the evening of Sunday April 7, following an explosion, in a building in the 11th arrondissement of Paris, according to
Le Parisien
. A resident of the building opposite explains to the daily that he heard “
two explosions during the day”
as well as
“a smaller one in the evening”
. The first noise was even recorded at 1 p.m. Sunday, according to a police source cited by the newspaper.
Open investigation
A criminal investigation for
“destruction by fire or dangerous means”
and
“involuntary homicide”
was opened on Sunday evening. The latter was entrusted to investigators from the 2nd judicial police district of the capital, said the public prosecutor. The origins of the explosion which caused the fire which caused the death of three people are still unknown at this stage.
The gas trail has not been ruled out by the police, although this building on rue de Charonne does not contain “
no gas”
, assures Le
Parisien
the president of the co-ownership trustee, Pierre Chassagne. But the opinions of local residents, questioned by the daily, differ. Some argue that the explosion cannot be due to gas:
“It was a small boom, like a TV exploding
,” says the neighbor across the street. On the contrary, the detonation "
was significant with the windows which shattered
(...)
it is not electricity which can cause such damage"
, considers Francine, the resident of the 1st floor.