An explosion occurred around noon on a shopping street where traffic had been closed due to road works. A backhoe loader damaged a natural gas pipeline, triggering an explosion 30 min later. Several more explosions occurred 30 min after that, most notably near the meter of a small building, while first responders, gas utility personnel, policemen and fire-fighters were on-site. The ensuing fire ravaged the 2-story building. Once the accident had been brought under control, a private firm began clearing the zone and looking for victims. By 3 pm, the 50-person fire-fighting crew had completed digging and explosimetry limit measurements. Rounds were made throughout the following night.

The human toll came to 12 injuries requiring hospitalisation, mainly burn victims (7 were held for more than a day); 2 of the injured were in serious enough condition to be transferred to Paris (they were reported as stationary the next day). An investigation was launched to determine the accident causes, and the local mayor pressed charges.

According to judicial experts and the Labour Inspection Office, this accident was due to multiple causes: the deteriorated pipe had not been indicated on the as-built network drawings; no protection barrier warned of pipe deterioration; and works continued despite the fact that other non-identified and non-recorded pipes had already been found. The explosion was sparked by an electrical device located in a hairdresser’s salon.