Fire broke out at an apartment in the suburb of Gennevilliers northwest of Paris and left at least five people dead and 18 others hurt,rescue workers said.

The five lived in the same flat on the fifth floor of the six-storey building in the French capital  in a disadvantaged area of Gennevilliers. The cause of the fire which broke out on Wednesday morning  is still unknown.

Some 100 firefighters fought the blaze that began in a fourth-floor flat, rescue workers told AFP. Fifteen of the 18 people who were injured were taken to hospital. Two of them were firefighters who suffered hand burns.

The mayor of Gennevilliers visited the scene and Interior Minister Manuel Valls was due to visit later, his ministry said.

By UP