A fire in a residential building near Paris left seven people with serious injuries including five children who were in a "life-threatening" condition, firefighters said. A dozen police officers were also slightly hurt in the blaze in Aubervilliers yesterday, north of Paris, which was later brought under control, a Paris fire service spokesman said.

The fire, which took hold in the attic of a building with two floors, needed 100 firefighters to tackle it. A previous list of eight injured people was revised down. The cause of the blaze remained unknown, the fire service added. Less than one month ago, a fire in a housing complex in Aubervilliers killed a mother and her three children, leaving nine others injured.