Four dead and 14 injured in care home fire

Police in Australia have launched an arson investigation after four elderly people were killed and 14 critically injured when two fires tore through a nursing home in Sydney.

The blazes broke out in separate parts of the complex, and police are investigating whether they were started deliberately.

A total of 88 patients were evacuated from the single- storey building in suburban Quakers Hill as firefighters searched rooms on their hands and knees for patients, many of them bedridden and suffering from dementia, fire commissioner Greg Mullins said.

Many of the patients were later left in the open on beds and in wheelchairs until they could be transported to alternative accommodation.

“This is a firefighter’s worst nightmare,” Mr Mullins said. “Turning up to a nursing home with elderly people who can’t get themselves out of harm’s way.”