Paris apartment fire fills 7 African immigrants

It was the second deadly fire in a week at buildings housing immigrants in France's capital, and the third since April.

Just days ago, a deadly blaze killed 17 Africans in Paris. Four months earlier, 24 people died in a similar fire at a budget hotel that housed African immigrants, focusing new attention on the plight of Paris' poor and their overcrowded lodgings.

Two other people were seriously injured in the latest fire, which started late Monday and ripped through a six-story building in the 3rd arrondissment of central Paris where Ivorian immigrants lived, firefighters said.

Eleven people, including five firefighters, were slightly injured. Two men were injured jumping out of windows to escape the flames, officials said.

French President Jacques Chirac urged investigators to work diligently. He also said the government would take "strong initiatives" soon to help families in inadequate housing.