Video: Violent explosion in a building near Lyon, one dead

A gas explosion blew up an apartment in a building in Vénissieux, a suburb of Lyon, killing one person.

The Minguettes district of Vénissieux, near Lyon, was awakened last Sunday night by a powerful explosion at around 3:30 a.m., reports TF1. A gas leak blew up a third-floor apartment in a seven-story apartment building, before large flames appeared.

The 80 firefighters who arrived quickly on the scene brought the fire under control, which left a heavy toll, for the moment provisional: one person died in the destroyed apartment and around fifteen people were injured from smoke inhalation.

Alternative housing solutions will have to be found and the apartment's guardrail, blown away in the explosion and hanging in the void outside the building, will have to be secured.