Paris fire: Ten dead and dozens hurt as ‘deliberate’ blaze engulfs 8-storey building

Woman arrested on suspicion of arson following major incident in 16th arrondissement of French capital

A woman has been arrested on suspicion of arson after at least 10 people died and dozens were injured in a fire at a block of housing in Paris’s 16th arrondissement.

The blaze consumed the seventh and eighth floors of the 8-storey residential building before it was finally extinguished on Tuesday morning.

Fire service spokesman Clement Cognon said the incident began early on Tuesday at a building on Rue Erlanger in the west of the French capital.

Firefighters rescued two dozen people who had fled to the roof or climbed out of windows to escape the flames, and others were evacuated from inside the building, Mr Cognon said.

Paris prosecutor Remy Heitz told reporters that investigators suspected a “criminal” cause for the fire, and said that a woman who lived in the building was in custody.

French television showed video of flames in the windows of the building, which authorities said was built in the 1970s.

“It was a particularly violent fire,” Mr Cognon told BFM TV.

The building is less than a mile from the Roland Garros stadium that hosts the French Open tennis tournament, and close to the popular Bois de Boulogne park on the city’s western edge.

The 16th arrondissement is one of the most high-end districts of Paris.

More than 200 firefighters and emergency workers were called to the scene, Paris police said, and the street was blocked off.

People in neighbouring buildings were also evacuated.

The fire comes a month after a deadly explosion and blaze linked to a gas leak in a Paris bakery.

Additional reporting by agencies