Several people injured in huge gas explosion in Paris - police

Several people were injured in a huge explosion probably caused by a gas leak in central Paris, a police source said.

The massive blast rocked buildings hundreds of metres away and blew out the entire ground floor of a building at rue Trevise, in the Grands Boulevards central Paris shopping district.

Police said nine people were seriously injured.

Paris police are on high alert on a ninth consecutive Saturday of yellow vest protests, with large parts of the city centre blocked off by riot police. (Reporting by Emmanuel Jarry, Simon Carraud and Benoit Tessier; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)