Paris hotel blaze kills four

The fire was started in a rubbish bin

PARIS, France (CNN) -- Four people were killed and 18 injured in a blaze at a central Paris hotel near the Louvre museum that may have been caused by arson, fire services said.

The fire at the Hotel du Palais on Place du Chatelet, near the Seine River, was started in a rubbish bin at the bottom of the six-floor hotel's stairwell.

Two of the dead were identified as Italian women. The nationality of the other victims was not immediately known.

One of the 17 injured was said to be in critical condition. Others were being treated for smoke inhalation or shock.

Fire Services spokesman Captain Laurent Vibert told Reuters that police had arrested a man suspected of starting the fire.

The 36-year-old man was behaving strangely and was drunk, police said. He was seen going in and out of popular one-star tourist hotel.

Vibert said the four victims choked to death on fumes as they tried to escape from rooms to the roof of the hotel.

He said 150 firemen had battled the fire at the hotel for over an hour.

Vibert said the blaze tore through all six floors of the hotel, destroying the stairs and causing extensive damage to all its rooms and internal corridors. It may also have damaged the historic Chatelet theatre next door, he said.