Guests leap from hotel windows as 15 die in fire

A FIRE swept through a Paris hotel early today killing at least 15 people and injuring 55.

As the intense blaze gutted the building, victims - including women and children - were seen leaping from top-floor windows.

The Paris-Opera hotel, in the 9th district and just a short walk from the Eurostar terminal and its direct trains to London, only had one staircase and there was mass panic as the heat intensified.

Mehmet Tahbi, who lives opposite, said: "I was woken by screaming, then the sound of sirens. Within what seemed like a few minutes the whole building was ablaze.

"I saw a woman holding a baby jump out of a window at least 100 feet up.

They hit the ground and there was no movement."

Among those visiting the scene early today were Interior Minister Dominique de Villepin, who is leading France's fight against terrorism.

Witnesses heard "Fire, Fire!" being shouted at about 3.30am. "Everyone was screaming," said Chakib San, who also lives opposite. "There were bodies in the road." He said he and a woman who works in a nearby hotel had used a ladder to rescue a little girl. "We got her out and the firefighters arrived a few minutes later."

Paris fire service spokesman Laurent Vibert said 76 people had been staying in the 32-room hotel. The injured came from France, the United States, Portugal, Senegal, Tunisia, Ukraine and Ivory Coast.

Fire officials also said a Canadian was slightly injured. The nationalities of the dead were not given. Thirteen of the injured are in a serious condition.

Fifty fire engines attended the scene, while about 250 firefighters used high power hoses against the flames.

The fire was under control within an hour, but work continued to try to find survivors among the wreckage.

The Galeries Lafayette department store, also nearby, was turned into a makeshift hospital for the injured.

"Fifteen people were killed," said Laurent Vibert of the Paris fire brigade.

"We fear we might find more victims on the upper floors. The fire broke out on the lower floors. There was no explosion." Many of the injured suffered burns, trauma and the effects of smoke inhalation.

The Paris-Opera is a one-star hotel popular with tourists because of its central location.

It is also used by the local council to accommodate people, mainly of North African - predominantly Tunisian - origin, waiting to move into state housing.

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