PARIS, Sept. 5 (Xinhuanet) -- Some young girls have confessed Monday to have set fire in a Paris apartment building which killed 16 people over the weekend, including three children, Paris policesaid Monday.

    Four teenager girls were held for questioning after the blaze in a 18-storey building in the working-class suburb of L'Hay-les-Roses near Orly airport in South Paris, police said.

    Three of them were arrested on Sunday morning and a fourth on Monday morning. Three girls have admitted setting light to letterboxes in the hall of the building for fun and caused the fire, said police.

    Besides the 16 victims, including one young man died from severe smoke inhalation late Sunday, five people are still in a critical condition, doctors said.

    Within 9 days, 40 people have been killed in three fires in Paris, including the two previous on August 26 and 29 that killed 24 African immigrants in two run-down Paris buildings.

    The three deadly fires came five months after the April 15 firein a hotel near Paris Opera killing 24 African immigrants. Enditem