Rome, 9 December 2023 (dpa/MIA) — At least three people died in a fire at a hospital near Rome late on Friday, the fire brigade announced the following morning.

The fire broke out at around 11 pm (2200 GMT) in the San Giovanni Evangelista hospital in Tivoli, just outside Rome, the fire brigade said.

A fourth body was also found during the firefighting work, the Italian news agency ANSA reported. It was unclear whether the person had already died before the fire.

The emergency services were able to extinguish the fire during the night.

Around 200 patients, including children, were transferred from the hospital on the eastern outskirts of Rome to various hospitals in the Italian capital. They were distributed according to their state of health.

The cause of the fire was initially unclear. According to preliminary findings, the fire broke out on the second floor of the hospital.

The flames reportedly spread quickly and reached the emergency department and the intensive care unit.

There was no fire on the upper floors, but the smoke also travelled there, so that the entire building had to be evacuated.