Luxury Paris hotel near Elysee reopens after fire forces brief closure

A five-star hotel near the Elysee presidential palace in Paris reopened on Wednesday after a blaze earlier forced around 400 people to evacuate the building, the French capital's firefighters and the hotel said.

Two members of staff were slightly injured as they tried to put out the fire which started at around 1020 GMT in the basement kitchen of the 114 Faubourg restaurant, owned by the Bristol hotel, often used by visiting world leaders close to the Elysee, the French president's official residence.

The fire has been fully contained and extinguished, the Bristol hotel said in a statement later on Wednesday, adding that the hotel had been reopened.

Police had closed Faubourg Saint‑Honore street, while more than 100 firefighters were on the scene, the local fire service said.