Romania Guesthouse Blaze Kills 7, Search For Missing Ongoing

BUCHAREST, Romania: The death toll from a massive fire at a guesthouse in Romania rose to seven people Wednesday morning, including at least two children, authorities said.

Emergency intervention teams were deployed to the blaze that erupted Tuesday morning in the village of Tohani in Prahova county, where 26 people were staying at the guesthouse, according to the General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations.

Photos of the aftermath of the blaze in local media showed the charred remains of the sprawling guesthouse as emergency workers searched through the rubble.

Authorities confirmed the death of a second child Wednesday morning and said the search for missing persons was ongoing, but did not specify how many were still missing.

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Before the emergency authorities confirmed the fourth and fifth fatalities around noon on Tuesday, search and rescue teams had been set up to find five missing persons. It wasn't immediately clear if they were among those listed as missing.

The emergency directorate said the directorate's head, Raed Arafat, ordered a preliminary report to investigate what checks had been carried out at the guesthouse to help determine who was responsible for the tragedy. There was no immediate indication as to what caused the blaze.

In the immediate aftermath of the blaze, authorities said 18 people had managed to escape the fire and that two of them were being treated for burns. The fire was extinguished Tuesday shortly after noon.

The affected area was about 1,000 square meters (10,800 square feet).

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