Socialism Update - At Least 11 Die in Fire at Austria Home for Elderly

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,330107,00.html

At Least 11 Die in Fire at Austria Home for Elderly

Friday, February 08, 2008

VIENNA, Austria - A fire that engulfed a home for the elderly in western

Austria killed 11 people and injured six others, a local government

spokesman said.

When the blaze broke out early Friday evening in the town of Egg, there were

23 residents and two supervisors in the building, which also functioned as a

nursing home, said Thomas Mair, a spokesman for Vorarlberg province

government.

"There are 11 dead and six injured - three of them seriously," Mair said,

without giving details.

About 250 firefighters put out the blaze, Mair said. He could not say how

long it took to do so, but he added that firefighters were initially alerted

around 6:45 p.m. local time.

Authorities are investigating the cause of the fire, which started in a room

of the first floor of the multistory building and quickly spread to the rest

of the facility, according to the Austria Press Agency.

From photos, the building appeared to have a ground floor and three upper

floors. Authorities were not immediately available for confirmation.

APA said those who were killed had been especially in need of care and had

died of smoke inhalation.

Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer arrived in Egg late Friday, APA reported.

"It is a catastrophe, completely terrible," the news agency quoted

Gusenbauer as saying.

He also praised the "great work" of all those involved in the firefighting

and rescue operation, and expressed hope that those who were injured would

survive.

Vorarlberg Governor Herbert Sausgruber said the province had been hit by a

"tragic event ... a grave disaster."

Egg's mayor, Norbert Fink, said the incident was a "massive hit for the

whole town."

Austrian broadcaster ORF reported that the building was 140 years old and

that thick smoke had hampered the rescue efforts.

Egg, a town of roughly 3,500, is located at the western edge of the country

in a region that is popular for skiing and hiking.

Austria has had other fire disasters.

On Nov. 11, 2000, 155 skiers and snowboarders died when a fire blamed on an

improperly installed space heater swept through the crowded cable car as it

passed through a tunnel on its way to the summit of the Kitzsteinhorn

glacier near the ski resort town of Kaprun. Only 12 people escaped the

inferno, Austria's worst peacetime disaster.

Other Austrian senior citizen homes have been rocked by fire, but the blaze

in Egg claimed the most lives, APA reported.

One such incident happened in March 1989 when two women burned to death in a

home for the elderly in the village of St. Stefan ob Leoben in a fire that

was sparked by a lit Easter candle left by a window. Five others were

seriously injured in the blaze, according to APA.

Just last week, nine people - five of them children - perished in a blaze in

an apartment building in Ludwigshafen in neighboring Germany.