Paris fire: Woman in custody

The fire rages through the top floors of the apartment building in Paris, France. Photo / AP

A woman was being held for a suspected "revenge arson attack" on a Paris apartment block in which 10 people died and 33 were injured.

At least one of the victims was a young child, the local mayor said.

The fire on the upper floors of the building in the rue Erlanger in the upmarket 16th district of south-west Paris is the most deadly in the capital since 2005.

The building was engulfed in flames and fire fighters used ladders to rescue residents, some in pyjamas, from the top of the eight-storey block. Many escaped on to the roof.

Remy Heitz, the Paris prosecutor, said that a "40-year-old woman who has prior psychological problems" had been arrested "apparently in a drunken state" at the scene after trying to set light to a car.

"She apparently had a row with neighbours which ended badly and she set fire to the building," he added.

An investigation has been launched into the criminal charge of causing death by arson.

The suspect's neighbour, a 22-year old firefighter who declined to be named, told Le Parisien newspaper he thought the woman had acted in revenge after his girlfriend complained about loud music.

He said he went out and when he returned he ran into his neighbour in the stairwell, which was already beginning to smell of smoke.

"She wished me good luck, telling me that I loved flames," he said.

Other neighbours said they heard the suspect and her neighbour arguing over the woman's music before the fire broke out.

- Telegraph Group Ltd, AP