An explosion has set off a massive fireball in an eight-story apartment building in Paris on Saturday night. 

Some 80 firefighters have battled to control the inferno and extinguished the blaze. 

Residents have been evacuated. Authorities say there are no known casualties. 

"For the moment there are no victims, nobody injured," said Gabriel Plus, a spokesman for the Paris fire brigade.

The fire broke out in a flat in Boulevard Macdonald, in the northeast corner of Paris soon after 9.30 pm, spreading to 26 other modern apartments.

The neighborhood is home to a large Asian community of mostly Chinese and Vietnamese. 

It is not yet known how the fire started and what triggered the enormous explosion.

A fire department spokesperson said: "The building is not fueled by gas, but there may well have been gas cylinders stored on the balconies," Le Parisien reported.

One resident said, "There was a huge explosion. We felt the building tremble, and immediately, gigantic flames."

"We all ran away. There was only that to do," The Sun reported.