AT least three people burned alive in their sleep after a harrowing blaze erupted at a holiday home for disabled people.

The victims are said to have burnt to death within “minutes” in the cottage in south west of France.

Firefighters in Montmoreau, near Angouleume, confirmed the building was reduced to smouldering rubble in the early hours of Monday morning as holidaymakers slept.

Local government official Jean-Charles Jobart said how three people are “confirmed dead” – with the figure “likely to rise” in the tragedy.

He added: “The fire brigade’s canine unit is trying to locate any other victims, and there are at least two other people confirmed missing.”

Mr Jobart said the alarm was first raised at 4:30am after a suspected electrical fault was thought to have caused the blaze.

It soon spread quickly, and the deceased are believed to have burnt to death within 20 minutes, he added.

Other suffered severe injuries, including one who remained in hospital intensive care on Monday afternoon. 

According to local cops, there were a total of 12 people with disabilities inside the holiday home.

None have yet been identified by name, but Mr Jobart said a 60-year-old woman was among those who tragically died.

It’s feared that most of the victims were asleep when the deadly blaze broke out, and were unable to find an escape route after being asphyxiated by thick smoke.

Jean-Michel Bolvin, the Mayor of Montmoreau, said the converted farmhouse had been “approved to accommodate disabled people during the holiday period”.

Mathieu Auriol, the Angouleme deputy prosecutor, said a criminal enquiry had been launched into “involuntary manslaughter and the involuntary causing of injury”.

He said there had been 14 adults aged 20 to 75 inside the destroyed building.

All of the victim’s had been on a week’s holiday, Auriol added.

Forensics experts are involved in the probe, with autopsies to be held to establish the exact cause of the deaths. 

Montmoreau – a commune in the department of Charente – has a population of just 2,500 people.

The blaze comes just under two years since 10 disabled adults and a carer were killed by a fire at a holiday cottage in Wintzenheim, near Strasbourg, eastern France.

All those who died were still asleep on the top floor of the two-storey building during the blaze, which spread rapidly.