Eleven people died after a fire tore through a holiday home for disabled people in eastern France early on Wednesday.

Officials said the fire broke out at 6:30am (local time) at the house in Wintzenheim, near the German border, and firefighters quickly put it out.

"We think we have located the 11 bodies," a firefighter told Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne as she visited the site of the incident. Eight bodies have been found and three more were thought to have been located under the rubble.

The holiday home was rented for the summer by two charities that take care of people with learning disabilities, local media said. Twenty-eight people were staying there, and 17 of them managed to escape the fire.

The fire broke out so early that "people were caught in their sleep," Wintzenheim deputy mayor Daniel Leroy told BFM TV.

The fire destroyed about two-thirds of the building. 

An investigation is underway to determine the cause of the blaze.

Nathalie Kielwasser, a deputy prosecutor for the region, told reporters it had likely been a low level fire that had burnt for a while before growing bigger and tearing the house down.

Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne posted earlier on social media: "My thoughts are with the victims and their loved ones."

President Emmanuel Macron spoke of a "tragedy".

The holiday home located in the town of Wintzenheim, about 70 kilometres south of Strasbourg, was rented by a charity that takes care of people with learning disabilities, local media said.

Reuters