A fire erupted at the Israeli Embassy in Paris early Thursday, destroying the unoccupied building, French officials said. There was no immediate indication the blaze was cause by arson or an attack.
The fire broke out at 2:20 a.m. local time in the five-story embassy, which was under renovation, police said. About 60 people in an adjacent building were evacuated.
Prosecutors, judicial police and forensic experts were at the scene, gathering evidence, Paris Police Chief Jean-Paul Proust said. The cause of the fire was not immediately known, but that four of the building's five floors were in ruins.
"The embassy was completely destroyed," he said.
Five firefighters were lightly injured while battling the blaze, which was extinguished by 6:00 a.m., police said.
About 150 firefighters and dozens of fire vehicles were at the scene, as was Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin, Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, and Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin.
Access to the scene was completely blocked by police vehicles. Smoke could be smelled in the surrounding area. The embassy is in an exclusive neighborhood of Paris, just blocks away from the fashionable Champs-Elysees and elegant French presidential palace.
French President Jacques Chirac telephoned Ambassador Elie Barnavi and assured the Israeli diplomat that everything would be done to determine the cause of the fire.
Fire Capt. Laurent Vibert said smoke billowed out the building shortly after the blaze erupted, a possible indication the fire was electrical in origin. He added that no explosion was heard before the blaze broke out.
"No indication leads us to believe it was an attack," he said.
(Xinhua News Agency May 23, 2002)
