Several residents killed, 50 injured in Sydney nursing home fire

Several elderly people have been killed and more than 50 residents injured in a nursing home fire in Sydney's west, local media reported on Friday. Up to 90 firefighters, a large number of police officers and paramedics were called out to the building in Hambledon Road, Quakers Hill, at 4:53 a.m. (local time) on Friday, the Australian Associated Press (AAP) reported. Firefighters were forced to crawl through thick black smoke on their hands and knees to search for residents trapped inside the building, Fire and Rescue New South Wales Commissioner Greg Mullins said. About 50 of the nursing home's 100 residents have been taken to hospital, most of them suffering from burns and smoke inhalation, the AAP reported. "This is a firefighter's worst nightmare," Mullins told reporters at the scene on Friday morning. "It was a horrific scene," he said. "This has been a very, very serious fire, a tragic scene - a lot of people injured. There have been some fatalities, there may be more," Mullins said. Authorities have not confirmed the death toll, but they believe it is less than 10. The cause of the fire is under investigation.