Mother jumps to her death from high inferno after mob safely trapped her child below: Ten dead, including five children, in French fire tragedy

A mother who jumped to her death from a burning apartment after escorting her child to safety is one in ten victims of an apartment fire in France today.

The unidentified woman was trapped after a fire broke out and spread upwards on the ground floor of a seven-storey block of flats in Vaux-en-Velin, a suburb of Lyon, just after 3am on Friday.

Eyewitnesses reported how the woman threw her child from her apartment window into the crowd below, who caught the child, but then jumped herself and was fatally injured in the fall.

Five children, aged between three and 15, were among the victims of the fire, which also injured 14, including four who are in critical condition in hospital.

The fire started in a ground-floor flat (pictured) and spread upwards, trapping people in their homes, including a woman who jumped to her death

Gérald Darmanin, France’s interior minister, said he was “shocked” after hearing the news and would travel to the scene today.

When asked about the cause of the fire, he said “several hypotheses” are possible and an investigation continues.

Local authorities said they have not ruled out anything in their investigation, including the fact that the fire was set on purpose.

Neighbors said squatters – possibly drug dealers – lived on the ground floor of the property.

Mr Darmanin said he had been up all night to update President Emmanuel Macron on the situation and would visit the scene of the fire today.

When asked about the cause of the fire, he told French news channel BFMTV that “several hypotheses” were possible and that an investigation was underway.

A witness told the news channel: “We heard children screaming, screaming. When we opened the windows we saw smoke coming out and suddenly we were downstairs.

“Neighbors came with a ladder, we were able to evacuate people living on the first floor on the garden side.”

As investigations into the cause of the fire are ongoing, officials say they cannot rule out anything – including the possibility that the fire was set intentionally

The five children killed are aged between three and 15, the French interior minister said, announcing that he would visit the site today.

Local residents say the fire took place in one of Lyon’s most deprived neighborhoods, and squatters lived on the ground floor of the block

Another said: ‘[I heard] a father who cried my children, save my children, help my children

A total of around 165 firefighters and 70 vehicles were dispatched to fight the fire. The exact cause of the fire, which took four hours to extinguish, is not currently known.

The building where the fire took place has a total of seven floors plus a basement.

It is located in the Mas du Taureau neighborhood of Lyon, which was once considered one of the city’s most deprived neighborhoods but has recently been the subject of a redevelopment plan.

According to Le Monde, Lyon has invested heavily in improving local shops and public transport links since the early 2000s.

However, local residents told journalists that conditions in the area are still poor and many people feel abandoned.

Police patrol a security perimeter around an apartment building in Lyon, France, where at least ten people died in a fire on Friday

Bystanders walk past a security perimeter next to an apartment building that caught fire early Friday morning, killing several people

The fire took place in the eastern Lyon suburb of Vaulx-en-Velin, which locals describe as one of the city’s most deprived neighbourhoods.