Paris ? A fire raced through an apartment building in Paris on Friday killing at least 17 people and injuring 22 others, two of them seriously, firefighters said.

The fire broke out shortly after midnight at a building in southeastern Paris, the fire department said. About 210 firefighters managed to bring the blaze under control.

Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy was at the scene of the blaze, on a major boulevard in the city’s 13th district, his ministry said.