Fire at nursing home in Indonesia kills at least 16 elderly residents

At least 16 people were killed and three others injured after a fire broke out at a nursing home in Indonesia’s North Sulawesi province, local authorities said on Monday.

According to the city’s fire and rescue agency chief Jimmy Rotinsulu, firefighters received a report of the blaze at 8:31pm on Sunday at a nursing home in Manado, the provincial capital.

He said many of the victims’ bodies were found inside their rooms, adding that several elderly residents were likely resting when the fire erupted in the evening.

Authorities managed to evacuate 12 people, all of whom were unhurt, and transferred them to a local hospital, he added.

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Footage aired by local broadcaster Metro TV showed flames engulfing the nursing home as local residents assisted in evacuating an elderly person from the building.

Deadly fires are relatively common in Indonesia, a Southeast Asian archipelago of more than 17,000 islands, often due to safety lapses and aging infrastructure.

Earlier this month, a fire swept through a seven-storey office building in the capital Jakarta, killing at least 22 people. In 2023, at least 12 people were killed in eastern Indonesia following an explosion at a nickel-processing plant.