Paris fire toll rises

The death toll in a suspected arson attack in a high-rise apartment block in Paris has risen to 16 and a fourth girl has been arrested in connection with the blaze, the police said yesterday.

Sunday's fire was the third major one in the French capital in just over a week.

"A 16th victim died during the night," a police source said. Police say the fire was probably deliberately started in a letter box in the hallway of the 18-storey building during the night. Three teenage girls were detained on Sunday and a fourth was held yesterday morning.

Most of the victims were killed by smoke and fumes that rapidly swept through the building in the southern suburbs of the city.

Unlike the two other fires in the past 10 days, Sunday's blaze did not sweep through rundown housing for immigrants but was in an apartment block aimed at low-income households.