French home blast: One man dead and several police officers injured

The explosion happened at a house in the Allier department as police were trying to take a man in for questioning

A total of seven gendarmes were injured in the blast on March 15

NeydtStock / Shutterstock

Hannah Garner Hannah Garner

Published Thursday 16 March 2023 - 12:19 Modified Thursday 16 March 2023 - 12:19

One man was killed and several police officers were injured after an explosion at a home in central France.

It happened on Wednesday (March 15) at La Chapelle – a small town situated north-east of Clermont-Ferrand – in the Allier department (Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes).

Officers from France’s Gendarmerie nationale entered a house to take a man, 38, in for questioning, according to public prosecutor Eric Neveu.

The man that the police were seeking was killed in the explosion.

Two gendarmes were taken by helicopter to a hospital in Lyon specialising in serious burns. A third gendarme was taken to the Clermont-Ferrand hospital centre, said the Allier prefecture. According to the national gendarme website, the condition of one of the gendarmes is life-threatening.

To fight the flames and help the victims, 57 firemen and 27 fire engines were mobilised.

Mr Neveu said that the exact circumstances of the explosion are currently unknown, but that there was a smell of petrol beforehand.

Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, expressed his support to the gendarmes injured during this intervention.

Sept gendarmes ont été blessés dont trois très grièvement à la suite d’une explosion dans le cadre d’une intervention dans l’Allier. Je leur apporte tout mon soutien.
— Gérald DARMANIN (@GDarmanin) March 15, 2023