Il Nuovo Postiglione - Fire in Italy retirement home kills six

The three-storey building was reportedly housing 167 people when the fire started in the early morning hours.

"It was a hellish scene," local resident Lucia, who can see the home from her house, told reporters.

"We saw old people protecting their faces with wet rags," and windows had been cracking with the heat, she said.

The cause of the blaze was not yet known, the fire brigade said.

Over 10 ambulances, various fire trucks and a silver mortuary van attended the scene in the south of the Italian city.

"Six people killed, numerous (others) suffering from smoke inhalation hospitalised. Dozens of people saved by firefighters who immediately evacuated the building," the fire brigade said on Twitter.

Some 80 people were rushed to hospital, two of whom were fighting for their lives, Milan's fire chief Nicola Micele said.

Fifteen others were in a serious condition.

Five of the victims were women aged between 69 and 87 years old, while the sixth was a 73-year-old man, media reports said.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni tweeted her "sincere condolences to the families of the victims and a speedy recovery" for those in hospital.

- Carried to safety -

Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala said the fire "started in one room housing two female residents", both of whom were killed by the flames.

"It did not spread, not even to the neighbouring rooms, but the smoke is just as deadly and the four other victims died of smoke inhalation".

"It could have been worse, but six victims is a very heavy toll", he said.

National firefighters spokesman Luca Cari told AFP that the most credible hypothesis currently for how the fire began was a short circuit.

A member of staff sounded the alarm at 1:20 am (2320 GMT Thursday) after seeing smoke, officials said.

"Four teams of firefighters were immediately dispatched. They found themselves faced with very low visibility in a corridor inside one part of the building, and flames in one room".

"They focused on putting out the flames, then evacuating the guests.

"It was a particularly complicated evacuation both because of the smoke and because some of the guests were not able to walk".

Some of the residents were evacuated "by being carried out, almost one and at time," Sala said.

They were given identifying bracelets and thermal emergency blankets.

The council was working to quickly re-house people in other suitable retirement homes.

The privately-run "Casa per Coniugi" caters to elderly people who are not self-sufficient but do not need hospital care.

Like many such homes, it was hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, with 53 residents reported to have died with the virus by April 2020, the daily Corriere della Sera said.

T.Barbieri--INP