Tivoli, Italy

At least three elderly people lost their lives in a massive blaze that broke out in a hospital overnight in the Italian town of Tivoli, which is near Rome, as reported by Italian media on Saturday.

A fourth dead body was discovered in the San Giovanni Evangelista hospital's mortuary, which was reported by many media organisations as the fourth casualty, however, Italy's Ansa news agency said that the victim was said to have died before 11 pm (2200 GMT) on Friday night, which was some time before the hospital caught fire.

The turntable ladders were used by the fire brigade for evacuating nearly 200 people from the hospital, which included many children and a pregnant woman.

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In the video released by the department, fire crews were seen trying to reach the hospital's upper floors through ladders as smoke billowed out.

Patients evacuated, transferred to hospitals

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In a statement, the Tivoli mayor’s office said that the patients in the hospital's intensive care were immediately transferred to other hospitals via ambulance. While the less-critical patients were shifted to the nearby municipal gymnasium and their transfer to other facilities was pending.

As per the media reports, those people who were evacuated from the hospital were taken to different parts of Rome so as to be provided treatment.

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The media reports said that two men and two women, who were killed in the blaze, were aged between 76 and 86.

The fire brigade stated that the blaze had been put under control and an investigation had been launched to establish its cause.

In the pictures, the building's black charred side was seen and the fire blaze appeared to have spread across multiple floors.

Tivoli, which is 20 miles away from Rome and is located towards its northeast, is a famous tourist destination. The place is famous for the archaeological sites of Villa d’Este and Villa Adriana, both of which have been recognised as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

(With inputs from agencies)