At least 16 dead in fire at retirement home in Chile

A fire at a nursing home in Chile has killed 16 elderly residents. The blaze occurred at El Edén home in Pitrufquén, 640km south of Santiago, on Friday evening. According to RTE News, the fire began on Friday night and was extinguished earlier on Saturday.

Ten others were hospitalised after the fire, which started at around 22:30 local time. A total of 26 elderly residents were in the nursing home at the time of the fire, with ten surviving and being taken to hospital.

The cause of the fire is unclear, according to BBC Health and BBC World. Chile's President José Antonio Kast has ordered a review into the condition of nursing homes across the country. The local mayor, Jacqueline Romero, expressed sorrow and said municipal teams, firefighters, and police were deployed to provide support to families.

Brief written by urgent.news from Qatar Tribune, RTE News, BBC Health, BBC World, Gulf News — 5 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.