Woman arrested after suspected arson kills 10

A 40-year-old woman has been arrested on suspicion of starting a fire that killed ten people in a Parisian block of flats after a noise dispute with a neighbour.

One of the victims was a baby caught in flames that spread rapidly through the eight-storey block in the Rue Erlanger in the prestigious 16th arrondissement. A total of 36 people were injured, including eight of the 250 firefighters called out at about 1am on Tuesday.

Captain Clement Cognon, a spokesman for the Paris fire service, described it as ‘‘a scene of incredible violence’’.

One firefighter with 17 years’ experience in the city said that it was the worst he had seen. The block, which contained 50 flats, was in a courtyard off the street. At least three people jumped from their windows while others climbed onto the roof.

Christophe Castaner, the interior minister, said that about 50 residents had been rescued by firefighters using ladders. A resident in a neighbouring block said: ‘‘There was fire everywhere, people were screaming from their windows. First of all I saw people leaving by their own means, a little bit shocked and with their pets. Then I saw people being brought down by fire officers on stretchers.’’

Another said that the fire was a ‘‘hell that wouldn’t calm down. They would put it out in one place and it would start in another.’’

Remy Heitz, the Paris prosecutor, said that a woman had been held by police on suspicion of arson.

Police had been called to the block earlier in the evening to calm a dispute between her and a neighbour, an off-duty firefighter who declined to be named. He said that he had been kept awake by loud music from the woman’s flat. ‘‘I called [the police] at about 11.50pm. The officers told us to leave and I went out with my girlfriend,’’ he said.

‘‘I thought the police must have taken [her] away so we went back inside and I found ... my neighbour on the stairs. She wished me good luck, saying that since I am a fire officer, I must like flames. Then I smelt burning and I realised she had set fire to the whole floor.’’

The woman, who was said to be drunk, was arrested in the street allegedly trying to set fire to dustbins and a car. French media said that she had left Sainte-Anne psychiatric hospital in Paris a week ago.

A resident said: ‘‘I heard a commotion and went on to the landing and saw a young man banging on the door of a flat at the end of the corridor. He was saying, ’They always put their music on too loudly.’ Later I heard someone say there was a fire. I looked and the fire was by the flat.’’