Sixteen elderly residents have died and 10 others have been taken to hospital after a fire tore through a nursing home in Chile, local authorities said.
The blaze broke out late Friday at the single-storey care facility in the Araucanía region, about 640 kilometers south of Santiago, and was brought under control earlier today.
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Images posted on social media showed flames surging above the building against the night sky as firefighters directed streams of water at the burning structure.
“We express our sorrow and dismay at the deaths of 16 elderly people in this tragedy,” authorities in the municipality of Pitrufquén said in a statement.
Fire crews spent the day combing through the wreckage, clearing debris and removing sections of corrugated metal roofing that had collapsed.
“It is a situation that fills our souls with great sorrow and pain. We have been… providing support to the families,” said local mayor Jacqueline Romero. She said municipal health and public safety teams, firefighters and police had been deployed at the scene.
The cause of the fire remains unclear
Investigators have yet to establish what sparked the fire.
“We are currently carrying out investigative procedures, including examining the scene and conducting inquiries, to determine the origin and cause of the fire, as well as to rule out third-party involvement,” Jorge Granada, the prosecutor assigned to the case, told local media.
The owners of the privately run care home have been summoned to give statements.
An official from the regional health secretariat said the facility had a history of operational problems.
“It was an unregulated facility, it had faced administrative proceedings and fines since 2019, and was a repeat offender,” the local official said.
“In February, the municipality had sent a letter specifically calling for an inspection because the facility was not in compliance with regulations – it was subject to sanitary enforcement proceedings,” the official added.
Chilean President Jose Antonio Kast said on his X account that the truth must be established and that “necessary corrections be made to do everything possible to prevent a tragedy like this from happening again”.
He said he had ordered “urgent measures” to assess conditions at nursing homes nationwide.
