Explosions heard, van set on fire near French Prime Minister’s office in Paris, day after Sebastien Lecornu resigns

Explosions were heard in Paris near the French prime minister’s Office, just a day after Sebastien Lecornu's resignation. The explosion led to a van catching fire. Visuals on social media showed thick black smoke rising in the area.

According to a Le Parisien report, citing witnesses, three explosions were heard near Hotel Matignon in Paris, where Sebastien Lecornu was due to hold meetings after his resignation.

It is not clear what caused the explosions or fire in the van, which reportedly belongs to a public lighting company. However, a firefighter told reporters that the blaze was caused by a mechanical fault in the company’s equipment.

The road, Rue de Varenne, has since been cordoned off with officers stationed to prevent entry.

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Pictures and videos from the scene, circulating on social media, show a van in flames as emergency services seek to contain the blaze.

Local media have reported that the fire was contained to the van and has not spread to any surrounding buildings.

Sebastien Lecornu resigns

Sebastien Lecornu stepped down from the role of French Prime Minister on Monday, 6 October, barely a day after unveiling a new Cabinet, plunging the country into fresh political turmoil and sending shocks through financial markets.

His resignation makes it the shortest-lived government of the Fifth Republic. He is the fifth prime minister to resign from the role 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,” he said in a statement on Monday.

He said 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 bills without a vote in parliament.

Far-right and left-wing lawmakers now hold over 320 seats at the National Assembly, while centrists and allied conservatives hold 210.