Two Bulgarian women - Fatme S. R. and Sevda A. - died in a fire that broke out in a hotel in the French city of Orange.

The Foreign Ministry in Sofia has already notified the families of the victims - one in the city of Dobrich, the other in the town of Devnya.

The women, 25 and 31 year-old, arrived in France May 25.

"Around 02:00 o'clock in the night there broke a fire in a boarding house and our nationals died as they tried to escape," Bulgarian Ambassador to France Marin Raykov said.

The embassy has no information what was the occupation of the victims.

The fire broke out in the kitchen in the ground floor of the boarding house and then spread to all seven rooms.

According to preliminary data from the investigation, it was an accident. The Bulgarians have tried to save themselves but by opening the door they have caused the fire to blaze up.

The town of Orange is situated a few kilometers away from Avignon in Southern France.