Paris ? A suspected arson fire tore through a recently renovated high-rise apartment building south of Paris early this morning, killing at least 12 people and injuring 16, a local official said.

The blaze, the fourth deadly fire in the Paris area since April, broke out in the entrance hall of a 15-story housing project in the Val-de-Marne region south of the capital, the local fire brigade said.

The fire was quickly extinguished, but victims succumbed to toxic smoke, officials said.

About 200 firefighters rushed to the fire in the town of L’Hay-les-Roses, and medical teams set up a mobile treatment site.

At least nine people were seriously injured, said fire brigade spokesman Alain Antonini.

Jean-Luc Marx, a local government spokesman, said authorities had opened an investigation into suspected arson.