Eleven people have died, including three children, after a fire broke out in an apartment block in the eastern town of Bohumin, Czechia, on Saturday afternoon. 

The fire began on the eleventh floor of the building in the town 190 kilometers east of the capital Prague, close to the Polish border.

Police said one person had been detained in connection with the blaze which saw five people jump to their deaths.

Regional police chief Tomas Kuzel told public Czech Television that police suspected arson was the cause.

Lukas Popp, a spokesman for local firefighters, told the AFP news agency that the fire started on the eleventh floor: "Six people died on this floor, including three children and three adults - and a dog.

"Our firefighters were on the site really fast but during the action, five people jumped out of the twelfth-storey window and died," said Popp.

Regional fire chief Vladimir Vlcek told Czech Television he did not want to speculate about the causes of the fire for the moment: "But the fire was very quick to develop, which is not normal. A fire like that typically affects one room, but this one hit the entire flat, all the rooms are burnt down."

Thirteen people were also injured in the fire, including two firefighters and a police officer.

Interior minister Jan Hamacek described the fire as "a huge tragedy" in a tweet. "My deepest condolences to the bereaved," he added.