Paris fire survivors hold march

The government faces calls for better social housing in Paris

Survivors of a fire that swept through a building housing African immigrants in Paris have held a march in memory of the victims.

A group of around 50 people walked from the gutted tenement block in south east Paris to the nearby Place d'Italie.

Several in the crowd held banners - one of which read: "Republic, we only ask you for a roof".

Officials are still trying to find the cause of Friday's blaze that killed 17 people, including 14 children.

The run-down seven-storey building in the capital's 13th district was reportedly used by charitable organisations to house immigrants.

This fire revives the debate on the inadequacy of social housing in Paris Le Nouvel Observateur French press review

There were 130 residents in the block when the fire broke out in a stairwell shortly after midnight. Thirty people were injured.

The French government is facing calls to build more low-cost housing in the capital after the fire.

It came just four months after 24 people died in a fire at a Parisian hotel also housing immigrants, again mostly children.

Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe called for an "exceptional and long-term re-housing solution" for the survivors.

Several charitable organisations have called for a protest gathering on Sunday afternoon at the scene of the fire.