Islander evacuated from hotel after Paris bakery blast

Tuesday 15 January 2019

A Jersey vet and his girlfriend, who were in Paris for a romantic getaway this weekend, had to be evacuated from their hotel after a nearby explosion at a bakery that killed four people.

Henry Johnson (24), who works at New Era, and Lianna McKirdy, were staying at the Hotel Diva Opera on Rue de Trévise, just metres away from suspected gas explosion at Boulangerie Hubert on Saturday.

The former Victoria College student said that the pair had gone to the bakery every day during their trip to get coffee and croissants for breakfast – but, at the fatal moment on Saturday morning, had fortunately decided to lie in.

Pictured: Henry and his girlfriend, Lianna, had been in Paris for a romantic getaway. 

“It was literally outside our hotel so we stopped there every morning, and the morning we slept in, was the morning it exploded,” he told Express. 

Henry said he had just woken up when the “massive” blast happened – an impact he described as being “like someone had taken a sledgehammer to our windows”, despite being on the other side of the hotel to the bakery. 

“There was a loud ‘boom’ and the floor-to-ceiling windows burst open and all the curtains and whatnot were blowing in. The frame and the glass had smashed and basically blown in the windows.”

Pictured: The bakery involved in the explosion was one that the pair had visited each day for breakfast during their trip.

He continued: “The bath was broken, and it was just a bit of a surprise. I thought someone had kicked in our door so I got up, got changed, had a look around and no one was outside.”

“We weren’t sure whether it was a bomb that had gone off. There were some protests going on, so we thought maybe something nasty had happened. We got all our things together, packed our bags, and waited it out for a bit. We didn’t want to go outside in case it was mayhem outside.” 

Within 45 minutes, they found themselves leaving the hotel, having been told by fire officials that the premises would have to be evacuated.

Pictured: Doors in the pair's hotel shattered due to the impact of the blast.

“We saw loads of the windows had been shattered, and there was wiring hanging from the ceiling. It was pretty much a bomb site. There was fire and smoke in the main street,” he said of the scene as they left.

“We walked a couple of streets over, and there was glass shattered all the way up that road. Then we crossed, and looked down and it was loads of police and fire service and people rushing round and pulling people from the top of the building. They ushered people away and they’d set up a barrier where all the media were...

"A further 100 metres to 200 metres down the road there was smashed glass. It was a lot of damage for a little boulangerie."

Pictured: The view outside after the blast.

The pair then sought refuge in a nearby café, where he described the scene as surreal. “Two streets over, everyone was going about their day. We sat in a café and googled it.”

Although the consequences were fatal, Henry said it was a relief to learn that the blast had not been a terror-related. 

Pictured: The pair ended up staying in Versailles.

While Henry admitted that the "scary" experience meant the trip "wasn't the most romantic of weekends away" as planned, the pair were fortunately able to find new accommodation in Versailles, bringing the trip to a more positive conclusion.