Eight pensioners die and 12 injured in Spanish nursing home blaze

Authorities believe the source of the blaze, which broke out early Sunday morning, was a mattress that caught fire

A blaze in a Spanish nursing home has killed eight residents (Getty/AFP)

Eight elderly residents have died and 12 injured in a fire that ripped through a nursing home in north-eastern Spain.

Zaragoza’s regional Interior Ministry spokesman, Gustavo Alcade, confirmed on Sunday that 11 of the people living at the Santa Fe home and one staff member had been hospitalised.

Among these, one man with serious burns was in critical condition in the intensive care unit of a local hospital, regional health spokesman Sebastian Celeya said, adding the others were suffering from smoke inhalation.

Sadly eight of the residents did not survive the blaze, which firefighters brought under control as quickly as they could.

Initial investigation pointed to a mattress catching on fire in a first floor bedroom of the three-storey home.

Celaya said the occupant of the bedroom where the fire looks to have started had died as well as a next-door neighbor, and those in bedrooms directly above died from smoke inhalation.

Alcalde praised the rapid response by fire and police officials but called it “a very sad day” in Zaragoza.

Additional reporting Associated Press