Fire claims 16 lives in Ukraine nursing home

A blaze ravaged a nursing home in western Ukraine killing 16 people early Sunday, the Ukrainian ministry of emergency situations said.

The fire started just after midnight in the nursing home for 25 people in a small village of Beloye, not far from Ukraine's border with Poland in the northwest of the country.

"As a result of the fire 16 people died, and 11 people, including two employees, were rescued," the ministry said in a statement. Three of the survivors are in a critical condition.

The fire, which raged in the wooden one-story building for five hours, was caused by "careless handling of fire," the statement said.