6 killed after fire in a retirement home in Italy's Milan

A fire at a retirement home in Milan killed six people and hospitalized numerous residents. The cause of the blaze is still unknown.

A fire at a retirement home in the early hours of Friday in Milan killed six people, firefighters said, with "numerous" residents hospitalised.

A firefighter vehicle is parked outside a retirement home after a fire killed six residents, in Milan on July 7, 2023. "Six people killed, numerous suffering from smoke inhalation hospitalised. Dozens of people saved by firefighters who immediately evacuated the building," the fire brigade said, adding the cause of the fire was not yet known. Five of the victims were women aged between 69 and 87 years old, while the sixth was a 73-year-old man, AGI news agency said. (Photo by GABRIEL BOUYS / AFP)(AFP)

"Six people killed, numerous suffering from smoke inhalation hospitalised. Dozens of people saved by firefighters who immediately evacuated the building," the fire brigade said on Twitter.

An AFP photographer saw the bodies of two of the victims being removed from the three-storey building which reportedly houses 210 people in the south of the Italian city.

The cause of the blaze was not yet known, the fire brigade said.

Five of the victims were women aged between 69 and 87 years old, while the sixth was a 73-year-old man, AGI news agency said.

Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala said the fire appeared to have started in one room housing two female residents, both of whom were killed by the flames, according to ANSA news agency.

While the fire did not spread beyond that room, the smoke killed four other residents and left a further two fighting for their lives, he said.