ARAPILES, Spain, Nov. 4 (UPI) -- A fire at a retirement home in Spain early Thursday killed one person and injured seven others, the EFE news agency reported.
An employee made the emergency call when smoke was seen coming from one of the bedroom windows in the three story building in Arapiles.
Red Cross workers quickly converged and began evacuating the elderly residents as fire trucks, helicopters and ambulances were dispatched.
It took firefighters an hour to extinguish the blaze, which tentatively is blamed on a fallen cigarette.
Firefighters said the evacuation was "very complicated" because of the residents' advanced age and disabilities. Numerous seniors were treated at the scene for smoke inhalation, while seven others were taken to a local hospital with minor injuries.
