Nursing home fire kills 6 in eastern Spain

Spanish authorities say that six people have died in a fire at a nursing home near Valencia in eastern Spain

MADRID -- Six residents of a nursing home in eastern Spain perished after a fire broke out in the night, authorities said Wednesday.

Valencia’s regional head, Ximo Puig, said that 17 more residents were hospitalized, with three in serious condition.

Firefighters said that they rescued 25 residents out of a total of 70 that were evacuated from the nursing home in the municipality of Moncada just north of Valencia.

Firefighter chief José Basset told Spanish news agency EFE that the fire appears to have started in a bedroom on the second floor. He said that when the firefighters arrived “there was a large number of people asking for help who were trapped by the smoke.”