6 women have died in a fire which ignited at an old people’s home in France after an elderly man tried to open a packet of sweets in bed using a cigarette lighter.

Investigators said the fire was intense.

It spread quickly from the man’s room to the corridor outside.

The 6 women were aged between 51 and 93.

They were suffocated by the heavy smoke.

Three others are in a serious condition in local hospitals.

180 people live in the retirement home in the southern port city of Marseille.