Prosecutors link deadly fire in France, killing 7 family members, to drug trade

A fire that killed seven members of one family including four children in the southern French city of Nice last week is linked to conflict among drug traffickers, prosecutors said on Monday.

A fire last week on the top floor of a seven-storey building in Nice killed seven people including children aged five, seven, 10, and 17 in a single apartment.

Speaking to reporters, Nice public prosecutor Damien Martinelli said authorities were "actively" hunting three suspects it had identified, including a 17-year-old.

Two other suspects have already been arrested -- the 25-year-old driver of the car that brought the perpetrators to the scene and one of the suspected arsonists, aged 21.

Referring to the motive, Martinelli said investigators had confirmed a link to "conflict around drug trafficking."

The apartment block is located in the low-income Moulins neighbourhood which is plagued by dealing and repeated violence for control of strategic spots.

The prosecutor stressed that the seven victims were "in no way directly or indirectly involved" in the drug trade.

Traces of accelerant have been found in the building.

Apart from the four children the victims also included two women aged 22 and 46, and a 45-year-old man who hurled himself from a window to escape the flames.

The victims were members of a family of Comoran origin.

A 23-year-old man was severely wounded after also jumping, while youths aged 17 and 19 were rescued by firefighters alongside people from neighbouring flats.

Investigators found traces of fires being started on the first, second and third floors, while surveillance footage showed three men breaking into the front door after arriving by car.

They left the building just before the fire was reported, prosecutors say.

One suspect was arrested in Nice. He himself contacted the police via a lawyer, claiming he had been "forced" to drive the vehicle that had brought the arsonists to the housing estate in western Nice.

But the investigation suggests "a much stronger involvement", said the public prosecutor.

On Sunday, one of the suspected arsonists was arrested in Noisy-le-Grand, in the eastern suburbs of Paris.

In March, President Emmanuel Macron launched a major operation against drug trafficking in French cities including Marseille in the south, saying gangland battles had made life a misery for residents.