A powerful explosion occurred on Monday afternoon, December 15, at around 5:30 p.m., in a four-story residential building in the French town of Trévoux, Ain, causing a heavy toll: two children dead and at least four people injured.
As Le Monde reports, authorities have urged residents to avoid the area, as the risk is not yet ruled out. According to witnesses, a woman who was in the apartment with her three children managed to escape with her eldest son, while the other two children, aged 3 and 5, were pulled from the rubble in critical condition and later declared dead.
The building did not collapse, but residents were evacuated and taken shelter in a nearby gym. The explosion was so powerful that it shattered windows at two nearby schools, causing panic among students, but there were no reports of injuries.
Around 50 firefighters, 36 vehicles and medical teams have been mobilized at the scene. An emergency structure has been set up in a swimming pool next to the building, while the prefect of Ain has activated the Novi plan (multiple victims), which allows the coordination of all emergency structures. The mayor has implemented the municipal protection plan.
Prefect Chantale Mauchet and Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez have expressed their condolences to the families of the victims and the injured.
The causes of the explosion still remain unclear, while investigations are ongoing.