'Britons killed in Paris blaze'

Three British women are believed to have been killed when a fire tore through an apartment block in Paris.

The Foreign Office is waiting for formal identification of the female victims. A spokeswoman was unable to give their ages or say whether they are women or girls.

Initial suggestions that they were a woman and her two daughters appeared to be incorrect as a spokeswoman confirmed they were not related.

Two are understood to be from the Southampton area. It is not known where the third is from.

About 180 firefighters tackled the blaze, which left several other people hurt and destroyed the top two floors of the building.

French police said they were in the process of identifying the three people who died in the fire near Les Halles in the centre of the city.

They are thought to have been staying on the fifth floor of the 300-year-old block when it was engulfed by flames early on Saturday morning.

A police spokesman said: "There are three people who were probably from Britain but we don't know any more at the moment.

"We need them to be identified to be sure."

The fire started at around 2am on Saturday and took firefighters, two of whom were injured, several hours to bring under control.

It is believed the blaze started towards the bottom of the building before spreading to a stairwell and then the roof, which had wooden beams.

"It was a very tough fire and very, very difficult to stop," the spokesman said.

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