S. Africa care center blaze kills 18

Eighteen elderly people have lost their lives after a fire blazed through an old age home near South Africa's capital as officials probe into the cause of the fire, Press TV reported.

According to emergency officials, several more retired people were seriously injured and 84 made homeless when the fire broke out on Sunday in Pieter Wessels retirement home, 50 km (30 miles) south east of the South African capital, Johannesburg, BBC reported.

"The building was engulfed in flames and emergency personnel leaped into action to rescue the aged from the burning building," said emergency services spokesman Chris Botha.

Firefighters and rescue workers rushed to douse the flames and search for the victims, 17 of whom were found trapped in the razed buildings at the retirement facility.

Another resident died of a heart attack shortly after having been transported to a nearby church.

However, firefighters reined in the flames of fire in the early hours of Monday, according to Remsie Visser, a spokeswoman for the care home.

Meanwhile, district officials began investigations into the yet-unknown cause of the fire.