19 PSYCHIATRIC PATIENTS DIE IN FIRE IN SOUTH ITALY.(MAIN)

Byline: Associated Press

ROME -- A fire early Sunday killed 19 residents of a psychiatric care facility that was housed in a prefabricated building in a southern region in which many Italians still live in trailers 21 years after a devastating earthquake.

The home's nine other residents, ranging in age from 31 to 63, were injured while escaping the flames with two night nurses.

Authorities said it appeared the fire was accidental. Firefighters speculated several portable heaters, turned on to fight the cold night air in the fiberglass-walled building, might have overloaded the electrical system and sparked the blaze shortly after midnight.

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