FIVE children were among the ten victims of a fire that broke out at a seven-storey tower block in the French city of Lyon.
Eyewitnesses said residents jumped from windows to escape the blaze that erupted early Friday morning in a residential building in Vaulx-en-Velin.
Another fourteen people were injured, with four of them in serious condition.
Authorities said the blaze erupted a little after 3 am on the ground floor of the building.
Officials said the cause of the fire was still unclear.
A security cordon has been set up at the site, the authority of the Rhone area said.
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Nearly 170 firefighters had been deployed at the building in the northern suburb.
A spokesperson for firefighters lieutenant-colonel David Annotel explained that the fire "would have started on the ground floor and then jumped directly to the third floor," reported local media.
Witnesses confirmed that the flames appeared on the ground floor before the entire building was covered in smoke.
Many even jumped from windows in a bid to escape the killer blaze, TF1 reports.
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The French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin described the fire as an “absolutely dramatic accident”and said a probe will be opened into the cause of the deadly blaze.
"We do not know the cause of the fire..there are several scenarios and a probe will be opened," Darmanin said, adding he was in touch with President Emmanuel Macron over the incident.
The French housing minister, Olivier Klein said he is in touch with mayor Hélène Geoffroy and would visit the city.
He tweeted this morning: "I am going there this morning to be alongside the residents, local officials and the emergency services,” he tweeted.
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