Rome, Jul. 7, (dpa/GNA) – Six people died in a fire at a retirement home in Milan in the early hours of Friday.
Several dozen residents were taken to hospital, two of them in very serious condition, Mayor Giuseppe Sala reported from the scene on Friday morning.
The fire started in a room accommodating two women, Sala said. The flames did not spread to adjacent areas of the nursing home or other rooms, but the smoke spread and killed four other people.
“You have to say it could have been worse,” Sala said, “but six deaths is also a very heavy toll.”
A person working in the home raised the alarm around 1:20 am (2320 GMT on Thursday).
The operation proved difficult because firefighters had to lead almost every one of the approximately 160 people out of the building individually.
In addition, almost nothing could be seen because of the smoke in the building, fire chief Nicola Miceli reported.
The evacuated seniors would be accommodated in other facilities as soon as possible.
There was initially no information about the cause of the fire.
GNA