Explosions and Fire Near French Prime Minister’s Office in Paris
PARIS – Explosions were heard in Paris before a van caught fire near the French prime minister’s Office, a day after Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu‘s resignation.
Witnesses reported three explosions near the hotel matignon, where Lecornu had been scheduled to hold meetings following his resignation, according to Le Parisien. Images from the scene depict a van engulfed in flames as emergency services worked to contain the blaze. Local media confirmed the fire was limited to the van and did not spread to nearby buildings.
The cause of the explosions and fire remains unclear. A firefighter told reporters the blaze stemmed from a mechanical fault in the company’s equipment. Images circulating on social media suggest the van belongs to a public lighting company. Rue de Varenne has been cordoned off, with officers restricting access.
Lecornu’s resignation occurred just one day after he announced his ministers, and after only 27 days in the role. The former defense minister was slated to present his general policy statement to the National Assembly on Tuesday.
His departure marks the shortest-lived government of the Fifth Republic and makes him the fifth prime minister to resign in two years. “The conditions were no longer met for me to be able to exercise my functions and allow the government to go before the National Assembly tomorrow,” Lecornu stated on Monday. He added that “these political parties sometimes pretended not to see the change, the profound rupture, not to use Article 49.3. There was no longer any pretext for parliamentarians to refuse to do their job.”
Article 49.3 grants the government the authority to pass legislation without a parliamentary vote.President Emmanuel Macron has requested Lecornu to resume negotiations with opposition parties to address the ongoing political instability, as reported by Reuters.
