Indonesia nursing home fire claims 16 lives, officials confirm

Indonesia’s Sulawesi Island – A fire broke out at a nursing home on Indonesia’s Sulawesi Island, killing over a dozen people and injuring three others, a local official reported Monday.

The blaze was reported to firefighters at 8:31 p.m. on Sunday at a facility in Manado, the capital of North Sulawesi province, according to Jimmy Rotinsulu, chief of the city’s fire and rescue agency.

Indonesian police are conducting identification procedures for 16 people killed in a fire that broke out at a nursing home in Manado, the capital of North Sulawesi province. Police forensic teams have launched an investigation, including a crime scene examination and witness… pic.twitter.com/p0PENH6v58

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“There were 16 deaths; three (people) had burn injuries,” he told AFP.

Many bodies of the victims were found inside their rooms, Jimmy said, adding that many of the elderly residents were likely resting in their rooms in the evening when the fire broke out.

Authorities managed to evacuate 12 people — all unhurt — and transfer them to a local hospital, he said.

Footage aired by local broadcaster Metro TV showed the fire engulfing the nursing home, while locals helped to evacuate an elderly person.

Deadly fires are not uncommon in Indonesia, a Southeast Asian archipelago of more than 17,000 islands.

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