PARIS, Feb. 21 (Xinhua) -- A fire in an apartment building in a northeastern suburb of Paris left one elderly resident dead and two firefighters seriously injured on Thursday, French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said.
The blaze, which broke out in a flat on the second floor of the 14-storey building at around 7 a.m. (0060 GMT), seemed to have started from the bed of an elderly person, the minister said.
The fire, whose cause was not known yet, killed the elderly person and seriously injured two firefighters, aged 20 and 21 years old, the minister said, adding that one of the young firefighters was in critical condition.
Some 150 firefighters had battled the blaze for more than an hour to bring it under control, the minister said.
Fires are common in Paris suburbs where there are many poorly-maintained buildings, some of which are more than 100 years old.
