Ten people, including five children aged between three and 15 years old, have been killed in a fire near the French city of Lyon, interior minister Gerald Darmanin said.
Another 14 people were injured, four of them seriously, in the blaze that broke out at a seven-storey residential block in Vaulx-en-Velin, a town around 290 miles southeast of Paris, shortly after 3am on Friday.
Neighbours reported hearing “screams of horror” and witnessed one of the residents throwing her child from the building to people below before jumping to her death.
The prefecture for the Rhone region said 170 firefighters were sent to the scene.
A security cordon was put in place and the cause of the fire was not known at this stage.
“There are several scenarios and a probe will be opened,” Mr Darmanin said, adding he was in touch with President Emmanuel Macron over the tragedy.
He went on: “I send my condolences to the families and loved ones of the victims.”
A nearby resident, Mohamed, told local media: “I heard the sound of women and children screaming.
“I woke up my wife, I told her: ‘There is something serious’.
“We wanted to help people but the smoke was too heavy.”
Neighbour, Assed, said: “It was horrible to see. I was really shocked.
“I witnessed a woman who… threw her child to people. They managed to catch him.
“She then tried to jump. It went wrong. She died.”
Read more world news:
Russia launches ‘massive missile attack’ on Ukraine
Failed landing sees pilot eject as military jet nosedives on to runway
Rida, another resident, said: “My kid, I told him not to go to school, he’s shocked, it traumatised him to hear screams like that, screams of horror. My legs are shaking.”
Mayor of Lyon Gregory Doucet wrote on Twitter: “Horror has just hit our neighbouring town of Vaulx-en-Velin.
“Ten people, including five children, lost their lives in a fire this morning.
“Our thoughts go out to the families and loved ones of the victims.”
It is the deadliest fire in France since 2019 when an arson attack in an upmarket Paris district killed 10 people and injured 32 others.