Reuters

11 killed in nursing home blaze

Updated 11.46 Sat Feb 09 2008

Keywords: fire, Egg, Austria

A fire has swept through a home for the elderly in the Austrian village of Egg, killing 11 residents.

About 250 firefighters battled for some three hours to put out the blaze, but had to stop the rescue operation due to fears the building might collapse.

"The biggest problem was the smoke. People could simply not get out through the stairwell" - Markus Natter

Investigations have now begun into the cause of the blaze.

"According to information from fire services, the fire started in a room on the first floor at the back of the building," the spokesman said.

Markus Natter, head of the firefighters in Egg, said: "The biggest problem was the smoke. People could simply not get out through the stairwell."

The death toll was the biggest in a blaze in Austria since 155 people were killed when a funicular train in Kaprun caught fire in a tunnel in November 2000.