5 killed as fire engulfs retirement house in Quebec

At least five people were killed and 30 others missing in a fire that destroyed a retirement house in L'Isle-Verte, a small village in the eastern Canadian province of Quebec, Thursday (local time), according to media reports.

The fire broke out at around midnight and trapped terrified residents, most of them dependent on wheelchairs and walkers, the reports said.

Of about 60 residents, only five can walk freely, and some others suffer from Alz heimer’s disease, an official was quoted as saying. Thirty-seven of the residents are aged 85 or older.

Firefighters struggled to contain the fire that ripped through the wooden three-story retirement house on a bleak midwinter night.

Park Sae-jin swatchsjp@ajunews.com