A MAJOR fire is ripping through a building in Paris, sending thick black smoke soaring over the city and into the suburbs.

The blaze appears to have broken out at the Syctom waste sorting centre in the 17th arrondissement on Monday afternoon.

Firefighters are using two aerial work platforms in their efforts to control the fire, amid concerns that the wooden beams of the building, completed in 2019, might give way.

The Paris Fire Department has advised the public to steer clear of the vicinity and cautioned local inhabitants to stay vigilant while emergency crews address the blaze.

No official information has yet been released on the cause or extent of the damage.

So far, there are no reported injuries, according to the 17th arrondissement town hall, but the situation remains tense.

Onlookers across the city have been posting dramatic images of the smoke cloud rising into the sky, mistaking it at first for storm clouds.

From the southern edge of the Champ-de-Mars, visitor Malika from Toulouse told Le Parisien: “What’s this crazy? That’s not a normal cloud!”

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