Five people were killed and over 50 injured when an apartment block in a densely-populated Paris district was gutted by fire in the early hours of Thursday morning, DPA reported.
The cause of the blaze, which began in the stairwell of the building in the Menilmontant neighbourhood, was not yet known.
Four of the victims died after jumping out of windows to escape the flames.
Around 300 firefighters were called in to try to extinguish the fire, which had been quenched by dawn.
Among the injured were six children and a fireman, who fell from his ladder after being electrocuted.
The mayor of the district cited as a factor in the high death toll that many buildings in the neighbourhood, which is home to large immigrant and artistic communities, were overcrowded.