Explosions were heard in Paris before a van caught on fire near the French Prime Minister’s Office, just a day after his resignation.
Witnesses reported hearing three explosions near the Hotel Matignon, where Sebastian Lecornu had been due to hold meetings after his resignation, Le Parisien reported.
Pictures from the scene 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.
It is not clear what caused the explosions or fire.
Mr Lecornu’s resignation came just a day after naming his ministers, and after only 27 days in the role. His resignation makes it the shortest-lived government of the Fifth Republic.
The former defence minister, was due to deliver his general policy statement to the National Assembly on Tuesday.
“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,” the outgoing prime minister said on Monday.
He continued 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 gives the government the power to pass bills without a vote from parliament.
More to follow…
