Four people were injured in a fire that broke out on May 2 in downtown Sofia, on the corner of Tsar Samouil and Pirotska streets, Bulgarian news agency Focus reported.

The fire in the four-storey apartment building was seen from the Halite shopping centre several blocks away, witnesses quoted by Focus said. Fire-fighters have already put it out, the head of the city's fire brigade Ivan Iliev said, as quoted by Dnevnik daily.

The victims of the fire are a family of four - the two children, aged seven and 11, were taken to Pirogov emergency hospital and are the least injured, Dnevnik said. The father was taken to the intensive care ward of the Pirogov hospital and the mother is in a military hospital, both in critical condition, according to the daily.

Fire fighters could not get to the apartment building right away because of cars that were parked on the street, Iliev said. The reasons for the fire are still being investigated, he added.