Scotland:Nursing Home Fire in Scotland Kills 11




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Scotland :

Nursing Home Fire in Scotland Kills 11

The Associated Press

January 31, 2004

UDDINGSTON, Scotland - Fire broke out at a southern Scottish nursing home early Saturday, killing 11 residents and injuring six others, the fire service said.

Most of the victims died from smoke-inhalation in one of the worst tragedies to hit a British nursing home since the government began regulating the industry in the 1960s.

At least 40 people were in the RosePark care home just south of Glasgow when the small blaze broke out, Alan Forbes, of the Strathclyde Fire Brigade, said. The fire department was called at 4:37 a.m. local time, he said.

At least three of the injured were in critical condition - one at a Glasgow hospital, according to police, and two more at Monklands Hospital in North Lanarkshire , according to a spokesman there. Others, many of them frail and ill, were moved to nearby nursing homes.

"It is a tragedy on an enormous scale for the families, for the community and for the people who attended it," said firemaster Jeff Ord of the Strathclyde Fire Brigade.

Chief Superintendent Tom Buchan, divisional fire commander for North Lanarkshire , said the fire itself had been small and had caused only minor damage to the building. Officials were still investigating the cause.

"Indeed, if you see the building it is impossible to detect there has been any signs of fire at all," he said. "It appears that the smoke has made its way along a residential area ... so the smoke was able to enter their bedrooms where they were sleeping."

Queen Elizabeth II sent a message of sympathy conveyed by Scottish First Minister Jack McConnell.

"I was greatly saddened to learn of the loss of life in this morning's fire at Rosepark nursing home in Uddingston," she said. "I wish to convey my heartfelt sympathies to families and friends of all those killed and injured. Our thoughts and prayers are with them all."

Worried relatives gathered at a nearby police station seeking information about patients.

"It is any care home's worst nightmare," said Sheila Scott, chief executive of the National Care Homes Association, who said the Rosepark home did not belong to that group.

"You can imagine a fire in the middle of the night at a care home full of people, some of whom probably can barely walk," she said.

The 43-bed Rosepark home, owned by the private company Balmer Care Homes, serves short- and long-term patients and also provides day care and care for the terminally ill and mentally ill people.