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Police suspect arson in deadly Paris fire

Police have arrested a man in his 30s "who might have been at the scene" of the deadly fire in northern Paris which killed at least eight people, including two children, a source at the Paris prosecutor's office told news agency AFP. Police have said that they believe the apartment building fire early Wednesday may have been started intentionally.

A firefighter on the scene of the fire in Paris, 2 September 2015
A firefighter on the scene of the fire in Paris, 2 September 2015 AFP
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The arrest was made on the basis of eyewitness accounts and CCTV footage.

The blaze in the city's 18th arrondissement took more than 100 firefighters to contain and is believed to be the deadliest in the capital in a decade.

Criminal investigators have taken over the probe after it emerged that the fire broke out in two separate places in the building.

"It's clear that when you have two (firefighter) call-outs in the same night ... this could be a malicious act,ā€ said Pierre-Henry Brandet, a spokesman for the interior ministry.

Four survivorsĀ Ā  some in critical conditionĀ Ā  are in hospital.

The eight victims include two who died after they attempted to escape through windows, according to police.

Firefighters were first called to the scene at 2:20 am and quickly put out the blaze. But they were then called back again two hours later to extinguish a second, much larger fire believed to have started on the ground floor before it quickly spread into the stairwell and then upper floors.

"Everything is being done to shed light on the cause of this tragedy," French President Francois Hollande said in a statement.

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said about 15 building in the area had been affected by the blaze.

The main apartment block affected was a private building, not a block of flats for low-income families, she added.

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