PARIS – A French official says 18 people have been injured in an accidental explosion prompted by a mishandled bonfire at a town fair north of Paris.

An official with the prosecutor’s office of the Seine-Saint-Denis region said five of those injured Saturday were hospitalized with serious injuries. The blast occurred at a town carnival in Villepinte where local children and their families had gathered.

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The official said the explosion was found to be accidental and the apparent result of the mishandled lighting of a bonfire to mark the end of the carnival. The official was not authorized to be publicly named.

France is in a state of emergency after Islamic extremist attacks in recent years but authorities said there was no sign of arson or terrorism in Saturday’s explosion. </s> July 16 (UPI) -- A least two people have died in France amid celebrations that turned violent following the country's second World Cup soccer title, authorities said.

Fans poured into Paris streets Monday to celebrate after France defeated Croatia, 4-2, to win the World Cup in Moscow. It was France's second World Cup, following their victory in 1998.

Thousands gathered on Paris' Champs Elysees, dancing and singing, but the celebrations began to turn violent by midnight.

A group of about 30 people, some covering their faces, broke shop windows along the famed street, where one store was looted of its wine and champagne.

Some rioters threw bottles and chairs at police, who'd responded with tear gas and water cannons.

In Annecy in southeast France, a man died of a broken neck as he jumped into a canal at the end of the game.

In Saint-Felix, a fan crashed his car into a tree and died while celebrating the triumph, officials said.

About 4,000 police officers were deployed across Paris Sunday in anticipation of celebrations, and officials in other parts of the country also prepared for possible trouble.

Clashes between police and dozens of fans broke out in Lyon at an outdoor watch party. Ten people were arrested in Marseilles and two security officers were injured in clashes with police. In Frouard, officials said two children were seriously injured when they were hit by a passing motorcycle during celebrations. </s> French police have arrested a 24-year old man suspected of being behind last week’s bomb blast in the central city of Lyon that injured 13 people.

French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner announced the arrest on Twitter, but did not provide further details on the suspect or where he was arrested.

READ MORE: Number of injured rises to 13 as police search for suspect

Security camera footage of the incident showed the partially masked suspect wheeling a bicycle to the scene, before leaving a bag outside a branch of a popular bakery chain.

The case is being handled as a terrorism investigation given the circumstances of the attack, committed in broad daylight, and the use of an explosive device capable of hitting a large number of people with screws and metal balls packed into a bag.

The anti-terrorism unit of the Paris prosecutors’ office, which is handling the investigation, added that a 24-year-old man was arrested Monday morning in Lyon and placed in custody.

DNA traces were found on the remains of the parcel, according to a source close to the investigation.

Another source said the judicial police arrested the suspect on the street after having after tailed him.

They decided not to arrest him at his apartment, the source said, for fear that there could still be some triacetone triperoxide or TATP, the powerful but unstable homemade explosive that was used in the attack. </s> French police have arrested two men after a suspected parcel bomb exploded in Lyon last week, injuring 13 people.

The device, packed with screws and ball bearings, detonated outside a bakery on Friday afternoon.

One of the men arrested, a 24-year-old, is the suspected bomber, prosecutors say. No details have been given on the other.

Police had been hunting for a man seen cycling near the scene of the blast wearing a balaclava and rucksack.

Anti-terrorist prosecutors are leading the investigation, co-ordinating with Lyon police and France's internal security service, the DGSI.

The explosion struck near the corner of two crowded pedestrian streets in Lyon's historic city centre.

Investigators have reportedly recovered screws, ball bearings, along with a printed circuit, batteries and a remote-controlled trigger device.

Denis Broliquier, the city's district mayor, told press that "the charge was too small to kill," and a government source told AFP news agency it had been a "relatively weak explosive charge".

Those hurt, including a girl aged eight, appear to have suffered superficial injuries.

French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner confirmed one of the arrests in a Tweet on Monday, saying joint action by several agencies had been "decisive".

Gérard Collomb, Mayor of Lyon, told local media that a second man was also arrested without giving further detail.

No-one has claimed responsibility for the attack.

The last time a parcel bomb had exploded in France was in 2007 when a device killed one person and injured another in front of a law office in Paris. Police never found the bomber.

Jihadist gun and bomb attacks have killed more than 250 people in France since 2015 and the country remains on high alert, with military patrols a regular feature of security in cities including Lyon. </s> Six riot police officers have been injured during clashes with protesters armed with molotov cocktails in Paris on Monday. A group of around 150 people are said to have hijacked the city’s traditional May Day marches, organised every year by France’s unions
• May Day in France: six police injured as violent group hijacks Paris march </s> PARIS (AP) — French minister: 135 people have been injured in protests Saturday; nearly 1,000 protesters are in custody. </s> World Cup victory celebrations in France took a tragic turn after at least two citizens were killed and three children were hurt in connection with the frenzied festivities, while clashes broke out between Paris revelers and riot police.

In the city of Annecy, police said a 50-year-old man fatally broke his neck after leaping into a canal around the time the final whistle blew in France’s 4-2 win over Croatia, while a man in his 30s was killed in Saint-Felix after crashing his vehicle into a tree during celebrations, according to The Local.

A 3-year-old boy and two 6-year-old girls also were reportedly seriously injured in Frouard after being hit by a motorcyclist, who then fled the scene.

In Paris, television broadcasts and social media videos showed crowds clashing with cops along the French capital’s Champs Elysees.

One video from the AFP showed shirtless, masked partiers tossing objects at police as clouds of tear gas filled the area. The Local, citing an AFP journalist on the scene, said dozens of youths smashed windows at a drugstore and made off with bottles of wine and champagne.

"That's not how you celebrate," the website quoted a bystander as saying.

Other videos showed a car being flipped over before its rear bumper was ripped off.

There was no immediate word on arrests. </s> Lyon: French police have arrested a suspect over an explosion in the heart of the southeastern city of Lyon last week that injured 13 people, Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said on Monday.

Police had been hunting for a man seen cycling near the scene of the blast who was wearing a green T-shirt and Bermuda shorts, and a carrying a dark rucksack.

The Paris prosecutor's office, which has jurisdiction over terrorist investigations in France, confirmed that the man, a 24-year-old arrested in Lyon, is the suspected bomber.

He had been the target of an extensive manhunt since Friday night when an explosive device filled with screws and ball bearings was placed in front of a bakery near the corner of two crowded pedestrian streets in the historic centre of Lyon.

Police circulated photos of the suspect on Twitter, leading to "several dozen" calls from people with information.

Sources close to the investigation suspected the explosive was acetone peroxide, or APEX, a volatile compound used in the deadly Paris attacks on November 13, 2015.

Investigators recovered small screws, ball bearings and batteries along with a printed circuit and a remote-controlled trigger device. Officials later said the charge was relatively weak.

Thirteen people were wounded in the blast - eight women, four men and a 10-year-old girl - of whom 11 needed hospital treatment.

None of their injuries are believed to be life-threatening, but authorities said some needed surgery to remove shrapnel.

France has been on high alert following a wave of deadly jihadist terror attacks since 2015 which have killed more than 250 people.

Daesh has been behind many of the attacks, though no one has claimed responsibility for the Lyon blast. </s> French President Emmanuel Macron throws a wreath of flowers at Les Entonnoirs, a site of mines war, in Les Eparges, eastern France, Tuesday Nov. 6, 2018, as part of the ceremonies marking the centenary of the end of First World War. A French judicial official says six people have been arrested on preliminary terrorism charges, suspected of plotting to attack French President Emmanuel Macron. (Ludovic Marin, Pool via AP) (Ludovic Marin)
Celebrations across France see two killed, 45 injured, and 292 arrested.