The deadly fire broke out in an apartment block housing many African immigrant families in Paris in the early hours of Friday.
More than 200 firefighters from across the city were called to the scene in the south-east of the capital.
They helped many of the 130 people in the building to escape.
Local residents said many of those living in the block were from Senegal and Mali.
Survivors were given blankets and comforted by Red Cross workers in a make-shift centre near by.
But at least 17 people, including 14 children, were killed in the blaze.
The cause of the fire was not immediately known but a criminal investigation has begun.