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Another apartment fire in France

A suspected arson fire tore through a recently renovated high-rise apartment building south of Paris early Sunday, killing at least 12 people and injuring 16, officials said. The government has announced a series of measures including the planned construction of new housing and the eviction of squatters from buildings considered fire hazards in the wake of three other blazes in Paris since April that killed 48 people - mostly African immigrants.

The blaze, the fourth deadly fire in the Paris area since April, broke out in the entrance hall of a 18-storey housing project in the Val-de-Marne region south of the capital, the local fire brigade said. Five people were revived after suffering heart attacks, he said, and one pregnant woman who was rescued gave birth at the scene. She was taken to hospital with her newborn.

The fire was quickly extinguished by firefighters, but people had died mostly as a result of toxic smoke, officials said. Sunday`s fire did not appear to be linked to two blazes in Paris last month - one in a building frequented by squatters, the other in a rundown apartment building, Marx said.