Hospital fire in Germany kills three, injures dozens

An overnight blaze that broke out in a room in a hospital's geriatric ward in Hamburg, Germany, killed three people and injured about 50 others, police said on Sunday.

The three casualties were aged between 84 and 87 years old, while three others were between life and death, authorities said.

The fire in the Marienkrankenhaus facility began around midnight and threatened to spread to the first floor.

"Several elderly people with reduced mobility had to be evacuated along the corridors," said fire service spokesman, Lorenz Hartmann.

The firefighters managed to bring the fire under control before it could spread to other patients.

Hamburg police is investigating the cause of the blaze.

© Agence France-Presse