Five children among at least 10 killed in fire near France’s Lyon

AL Jazeera:

At least 10 people, including five children aged three to 15, have been killed in a fire in a residential building in Vaulx-en-Velin, near the French city of Lyon, according to interior minister Gerald Darmanin.

Another four people were seriously injured in the fire, which started in the early hours of Friday on the ground floor before spreading up the seven-storey building, rescue authorities told local media.

The fire is now extinguished, but footage on social media showed a huge, dark cloud billowing above the building earlier in the day.

“I was awakened by the screams,” a neighbour, Mohamed, told Le Progres de Lyon newspaper. “We wanted to help people but the smoke was too heavy. I saw a dead woman … It’s dramatic.”

Darmanin said the cause of the fire was not known at this stage.