Police investigating a fire in which a baby was tossed from a third floor window to save its life say that they are investigating reports of arson.

Two small girls who survived the blaze have claimed that they saw a German-speaking man set fire to paper and place it in a pram on the ground floor of the apartment block in Ludwigshafen, Germany, at about 4.30pm on Sunday.

The claims were reported in German newspapers this morning.

“We are investigating this but so far any claims about the cause are just speculation,” a police spokesman said.

All the occupants of the building were reported to be Turkish immigrants, raising fears that an arson attack could have had a racist motive. The Turkish foreign ministry has called for a full investigation.

This morning firefighters were waiting for the heat to subside enough for them to enter the smoking ruins, in which at least three adults and five children are so far reported to have died, after the flames destroyed the wooden staircase.

A ninth victim is said to have died after she tried to jump from a window. One of the victims was pregnant.

A press photographer captured dramatic images of a baby being hurled from the window by its father and tumbling to the ground, where it was safely caught by a policeman.

The child survived, but it is not known what happened to its parents. Prospects of escaping from the third floor appeared slim.

Sabah, a Turkish news agency, reported that the apartment block belonged to Zeki Karakaplan and that 52 people were living in the building.

"Fifty-year-old Medine Kaplan, her daughters-in-law Hülya Kaplan and Döne Kaplan, and their children Kenan, Kamil, Karanfil, İlyas and Dilara Kaplan died," reported Sabah's English language site.

"Belma Özkaplı died when she panicked and jumped out of the window. It has been stated that the inhabitants of the ground floor survived the fire."

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