A fire at a retirement home in Indonesia’s Manado city on Sulawesi Island has killed 16 people, mostly elderly residents, according to police officials.
The blaze, which broke out at the Wardha Damai retirement home, was extinguished late on Sunday after rescuers managed to help 12 people evacuate, all unhurt.
The injured, which include three with burns, have been taken to a hospital, officials said.
Jimmy Rotinsulu, chief of Manado’s fire department, said most victims were elderly people who were trapped inside the building.
“There were 16 deaths; three people had burn injuries,” he said.
Most of the bodies were found inside their rooms, Jimmy said, adding that a majority of the victims were sleeping when the fire broke out.
Authorities have launched an investigation to ascertain the exact causes that led to the disastrous spread of fire, police officials said.
The blaze is the latest in a series of deadly fires in Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands. Earlier this month, a fire destroyed a multi-storey office building in Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta, killing as many as 22 people and leaving dozens more injured.
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