‘Multiple’ fatalities in Australian nursing home blaze

SYDNEY—A number of elderly people were killed Friday and many more injured when a fire ripped through a nursing home in Sydney, emergency services said.

Up to 90 firefighters, a large number of police and paramedics raced to the home in the early hours of the morning when an automatic fire alarm went off to find a scene they said was “chaotic and tragic”.

“This has been a very, very serious fire, a tragic scene – a lot of people injured. There have been some fatalities, there may be more,” Fire and Rescue NSW Commissioner Greg Mullins told reporters.

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation said up to nine people died while Sky News cited police as saying “fewer than 10”.