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A terror probe has been launched after an explosion injured 13 people in France.

The victims, including an eight-year-old girl, are said to have injuries to their legs which are not life-threatening.

The cause of the blast on Victor-Hugo Street in Lyon was not immediately known but French President Emmanuel Macron called it an "attack" during a live interview.

Meanwhile, the Paris counter-terrorism prosecutor has opened an investigation into the blast.

Kamel Amerouche, the regional authority's communications chief, said the explosion occurred in or outside a store of the bakery chain Brioche Doree.

French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said he had ordered security to be boosted in public places and at major events.

Police reportedly are hunting a cyclist who was seen leaving the parcel outside a bakery on a street corner.

Reports say a man aged between 30 and 35 arrived on a bicycle and left the bag. He is said to have been wearing a face mask and dark glasses.

French media quoted a receptionist at a nearby hotel as saying there had been a "deafening blast".

"I saw people running and panicking and heard several cries," Alexis Saillan told BFMTV.

The mayor of Lyon's 2nd Arrondissement, Denis Broliquier, said he was certain the device had been designed to cause injury.

Several witnesses had told him, he said, that the device had been placed in a bag and left by a man filmed by municipal CCTV.

The central area in Lyon, the Presqu'ile, lies between the Rhone and Saone rivers that run through France's third-largest city.

Earlier, French officials said eight people were wounded, but later lowered the figure to seven.

President Macron confirmed there were no fatalities and sent his thoughts "to the injured and their families."