Ten people, including five children aged three to 15, were killed in a fire in the early hours of Friday in a residential apartment building in Vaulx-en-Velin, near the French city of Lyon, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said.

Another four people were seriously injured in the fire, which started on the ground floor before spreading up the seven-storey building, Reuters reported.

The fire, which broke out at around 3am local time has now been extinguished. 170 firefighters were involved int he extinguishing effort.

The BBC reported that the block of flats where the fire broke out is part of a housing project in the Lyon suburbs. The flames appear to have started on the ground floor before spreading upwards.