On Tuesday 25 June, a fire broke out in a building on rue de la Verrerie in the 4th arrondissement of Paris, according to sources at H24 NEWS. The incident led to the closure and evacuation of the BHV department stores’

According to Ariel Weil, mayor (PS) of Paris Centre, one woman was taken to hospital in a “relative emergency” and one man in an “absolute emergency”. Five firefighters were also injured, some by an electric arc in the stairwell and others by heat and smoke inhalation. Ariel Weil warned that the death toll could rise despite the fire being brought under control by midday.

A security perimeter was set up and around ten fire engines were deployed. The BHV, located close to the fire, remained closed, with its staff assembled in a neighbouring building. A spokesman for the Société des grands magasins (SGM) said the shop had not been affected by the fire, but it would remain closed throughout the day due to the sealing off of the area, reopening as normal tomorrow, the first day of the summer sales.

The smell of fire spread through the Hôtel de Ville district, and was smelled by Anne Hidalgo, who was chairing the Paris City Council at the time. The Mayor of Paris went to the scene to assess the emergency response.