Carbon monoxide leak in Italian retirement home kills five
Firefighters stand outside a care home where at least five people have died from a suspected carbon monoxide poisoning in Lanuvio, Italy January 16, 2021
A suspected carbon monoxide leak in the Italian capital of Rome led to the deaths of five residents of a retirement home.
"Unfortunately there are five dead, then there are also five other residents in a serious condition and two care workers, a total of seven people in hospital," AFP quoted the local police as saying.
After discovering 12 unconscious people in the care home, the morning team responsible for supervision of the building raised the alarm. The retirement home lies 30 kilometres (19 miles) south of Rome.
The five surviving residents are currently undergoing treatment at a hospital nearby, while two care assistants have been moved to a hospital in Rome.
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Most of them showed symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning, according to a press release from the Anti-COVID Crisis Unit of the Lazio region.
According to the statement, nine residents and three employees tested positive for COVID-19 this week.
Since then, most of them were set to be moved to a COVID-19 treatment facility on Saturday morning.
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The accident took place at the Villa Dei Diamanti care home in Lanuvio, a town situated near Rome. Italian firefighters, in a Tweet said the following - "Some residents have [been] killed, while others have been hospitalised”.
"It's a tragedy," Interior Ministry Undersecretary Carlo Sibilia said in a Facebook post.