Nursing Home Fire Kills Three And Leaves 30 Missing

January 25, 2014

CANADA – January 24,2014; The blaze broke out at the wooden three-storey home in Quebec, eastern Canada, shortly after midnight yesterday, sending huge sheets of flame leaping into the air.

Witnesses spoke of their horror as they watched the building burn, knowing elderly residents – many of them Alzheimer’s sufferers who relied on wheelchairs and walking frames – were trapped inside.

Three people have been confirmed dead and 30 more are missing from the Residence du Havre in the village of L’Isle-Verte, 140 miles east of Quebec City.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper warned that the loss of life would be “considerable” at the home, which reportedly had only a partial sprinkler system.

Firefighters who battled the blaze for five hours in temperatures as low as -22C said they could see and hear people in the building who they were unable to save.

Chief firefighter Yvon Charron said: “It was a night from hell.”

Mario Michaud described how he watched a man try but fail to rescue his mother who was screaming for help from a second floor balcony.

He said: “She burned to death.”

Eyewitness Pascal Fillion said: “There was one person we saw, who they wanted to save, but he was on the top floor, and with the fire and the wind they weren’t able to come any closer.”

Around 20 people were rescued, some of whom were taken to hospital.

Police were last night working to secure the site to ensure the remains of victims were kept intact.

As dawn broke, the home was covered in icicles formed from water used to put out the fire.

Investigators were hopeful that the final death toll might not reach 30 as it was thought some of the missing could be staying elsewhere or travelling with their families.

Quebec Premier Pauline Marois said: “I want to offer my deepest condolences to all the families who have lost someone.

“My government will do everything it can to help people there.”

News from : mirrornews

Photo : Internet

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