There are widespread reports that a huge fire broke out at a massive, well-known produce market and hub responsible for supplying much of Paris and its surrounding region with fresh food.
The Rungis market is often described as the largest fresh produce market of its kind in the world. Social media videos are widely circulating which show a huge blaze which appears to be centered on the expansive market which has been in existence for many centuries.
NOW - Rungis, the largest wholesale fresh produce market in the world, is on fire in Paris.pic.twitter.com/jUbrl8VRbL
Firefighters and emergency responders are on scene battling the blaze, which has resulted in plumes of smoke many stories high stretching above the French skyline.
The location is also near Paris' Orly Airport, which is likely to temporarily impact flights, with eyewitnesses playing the fire "close to the Rungis market complext just outside the airport perimeter," according to early reports.
Along with local reports, The Associated Press has confirmed that one or more warehouses at Rungis have been engulfed in flames: "Paris firefighters are battling a warehouse blaze at a massive produce market that supplies France’s capital and its surrounding region with much of its fresh food and bills itself as the largest of its kind in the world," the report says.
"Firefighters are urging people to stay away from the area, in the south of Paris, while they tackle the blaze."
France… The manufactured food crisis rolls on with the worlds largest fresh product market (Rungis) going up in smoke. pic.twitter.com/zMBr1suGRV
The Rungis market is also one of the oldest functioning large food markets in the world, with the site being operational as a food and produce center going back to at least the 12th century, when various permanent structures began being erected, making it a permanent feature of the city.
