Unregistered Sri Lankan nursing home lies in ruins as toll from deadly fire rises to 13

The death toll from a fire at an unregistered nursing home in western Sri Lanka has risen to 13

GALPATHA, Sri Lanka -- The site of the deadly fire at an unregistered nursing home for people with mental illnesses in Western Sri Lanka lay abandoned Friday as the death toll rose from 12 to 13 after an one of the injured succumbed to injuries at the hospital, an official said.

Glasses cases, medicines and reclining chairs lay strewn around the burned-out shell of the home in Anguruwatota, a small town about 55 kilometers (34 miles) southeast of the capital, Colombo.

The surviving residents have been shifted to a nearby nursing home.

According to police, 71 people with mental illnesses were staying at the home at the time of the fire. Fifty of them were rescued by neighbors, firefighters and police, and seven were hospitalized.

On Friday, another person died of his injuries, a police officer at the police station at Anguruwatota said, speaking on condition of anonymity, as they were not authorized to speak to the media.

The director of the home has already been arrested on suspicion of causing deaths through negligence. He appeared before a court on Thursday and was ordered to be detained for a week while an investigation is underway.

Dhanuja Chathuranga, a 32-year-old employee at the home told the Associated Press that they suspect the fire was caused by an electric short circuit in a wire attached to a water pump.

“The fire initially caught a pile of mattresses and pillows and then quickly spread across the house,” he said, adding that they rescued the majority of the residents, but 10 people were caught in the fire and burned to death. Three others died later in the hospital.

Associated Press footage showed the building gutted with its charred furniture and equipment. Bodies lay nearby.

Local television channels showed image of firefighters, police and residents trying to contain the raging fire. Police and soldiers put those rescued on buses to be taken to a safe location.

Chathura Mihudum, director of the National Secretariat for Elders, said the facility was not registered as a nursing home and had been warned to follow laws and guidelines.

He said it was overcrowded with beds for just about 15 people in a space where 71 people were living.

Government officials had previously visited the institution and had instructed the management to follow laws, he said, without elaborating.