Explosion Rocks Central Paris, Injuring at Least 37 People

An explosion tore through an apartment building in central Paris on Wednesday, partly collapsing the structure and injuring at least 37 people, four of them critically, according to the French authorities.

The explosion, which occurred around 5 p.m. on Rue Saint-Jacques, in the Fifth Arrondissement of the French capital, projected rubble and glass into the street and started a fire that sent black smoke billowing into the sky.

Gérald Darmanin, the French interior minister, told reporters more than 300 firefighters had deployed to the scene and were able to prevent the flames from spreading to neighboring buildings, which were nonetheless “destabilized” and evacuated as a precaution.

Mr. Darmanin said rescue workers were looking through the rubble late Wednesday for two missing people, although it was unclear whether they had been in the building at the time of the blast.