Eight people died in a blaze in a 15-storey building in Moscow overnight after a fire alarm malfunctioned, officials said on Friday.

The fire erupted in the building in a southeastern district, an agency investigating criminal acts said, adding that four people were hospitalized.

Emergency services said the blaze broke out on the ground floor of the building, adding that the flames were doused soon after midnight and that more than 200 people were evacuated.