Ten people are dead after a fire broke out in a residential building near the French city of Lyon on Friday morning.

Among the victims are five children, the local prefecture said.

Four people were seriously injured, while 10 sustained light injuries, including two firefighters, it said.

It was initially unclear what had caused the blaze in the seven-storey apartment building in the Lyon suburb of Vaulx-en-Velin.

Some 170 firefighters were deployed to the scene after the fire was reported shortly after 3 am.

A fire brigade spokesperson told French broadcaster BFMTV that the fire broke out on the ground floor of the block of flats located in a housing estate and spread to the third floor from there.

It was a complicated operation and the number of victims could possibly increase, the spokesperson said, adding that the smoke made it difficult to rescue the residents.

However, the fire has been extinguished, he said.

Source: dpa/MIA