MOSCOW, November 7 (RIA Novosti) - Two people died in a fire in a residential building in northwest Moscow on Saturday, an emergency services spokesman said.

"The blaze occurred at around 1:00 a.m. [22:00 GMT Friday] in a flat on the ninth floor of a residential building on Marshal Tukhachevsky Street," the spokesman said.

Firefighters discovered the bodies of an elderly women and a 40-year old man in the burnt-out flat. Both were overcome by fumes.

Seven people, including a small child, were rescued.

The cause of the blaze is believed to be an unextinguished cigarette.