Explosions near French PM’s office trigger fire, day after Lecornu’s sudden resignation

Explosions were reported near the French Prime Minister’s Office in Paris on Tuesday, a day after Sebastien Lecornu resigned from the post.

The incident led to a van catching fire, sending thick black smoke into the air, as captured in videos circulating on social media.

🇫🇷 An explosion occurred near the French Prime Minister’s office at Hôtel Matignon in Paris, causing thick black smoke to rise from a van belonging to Cielis, the city’s public lighting network manager.

The cause of the incident is still unknown.

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According to Le Parisien, witnesses heard three loud explosions near Hotel de Matignon, where Lecornu had been scheduled to hold meetings following his resignation.

Authorities have yet to confirm the exact cause of the blasts. However, a firefighter at the scene indicated the blaze may have been triggered by a mechanical fault in the equipment of a public lighting company, to which the van reportedly belonged, added the report.

Emergency services quickly responded, and the fire was successfully contained to the van without spreading to nearby buildings. The affected road, Rue de Varenne, has been cordoned off, with police stationed to prevent public access.

The incident comes amid heightened political tension in France.

Lecornu stepped down on Monday, barely a day after announcing a new Cabinet. His abrupt resignation has plunged the country into fresh political uncertainty and rattled financial markets.

Lecornu’s government is now the shortest-lived in the history of France’s Fifth Republic. He is the fifth prime minister to resign in just 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,” he said in a statement on Monday.

He said certain political parties had “sometimes pretended not to see the change, the profound rupture,” and criticised their reluctance to invoke Article 49.3.

“There was no longer any pretext for parliamentarians to refuse to do their job,” he added.

Article 49.3 of the French Constitution allows the government to pass legislation without a parliamentary vote, unless a motion of no confidence is successfully passed.

Currently, far-right and left-wing lawmakers hold a combined majority of over 320 seats in the National Assembly, while centrists and their conservative allies control 210.

With inputs from agencies