PARIS: French police arrested a man Wednesday after eight people, including two children, were killed in a fire in a Paris apartment building that investigators believe may have been started deliberately.
Terrified residents jumped out of windows as flames engulfed the block in an immigrant area of the 18th district of the French capital, at the foot of the Montmartre hill and its tourist attractions.
The fire -- the deadliest in Paris since 2005 -- quickly became a criminal investigation after it emerged firefighters had been called out twice to the same building, two hours apart.
Police arrested a man in his 30s "who might have been at the scene" of the fire, a source at the Paris prosecutor's office said, although he stressed the investigation was at an early stage.
The arrest was made after investigators studied CCTV footage, the source added.
Investigators said a man was seen running away from the building after the blaze.
AFP
