French investigators have confirmed that a powerful explosion at a bakery in Paris that killed four people and injured dozens almost a year ago was caused by a gas pipe break.
The blast in January devastated a street in north central Paris, damaging dozens of neighbouring buildings and forced many families to find temporary accommodation for months.
Paris prosecutor Remy Heitz said in a statement on Monday that the gas pipe broke due to ground subsidence caused by a water leak several years before.
Judicial experts have found that Paris street maintenance services and a private company in charge of the work failed to properly address the subsidence in 2016.
Firefighters were on the scene to investigate a suspected gas leak at the bakery when the explosion occurred.
Two firefighters died in the blast.