Elderly woman suffocates to death in Ñuñoa fire

SANTIAGO.- A woman suffocated to death this morning after a fire was started by a candle left burning in her bedroom.

The blaze began at 6:50 am at the woman's home, located on Calle Miguel de Cervantes in the municipality of Ñuñoa. Seventy fire-fighting units with 60 volunteers were dispatched to the scene and managed to control the flames, preventing them from spreading to the other rooms of the house.

According to the fourth commander of the Ñuñoa Fire Department, Carlos Rojas, the candle that was left burning in the bedroom of the victim (who lived alone) caused other materials nearby to catch fire and the flames spread throughout the rest of the room. The woman, identified as 75 year-old Norma Zamorano Guerra, was found in the bathroom of the house –where she had attempted to flee- dead as a result of smoke inhalation.

The fire-fighters managed to remove the woman from the residence and attempted to resuscitate her for more than 20 minutes, but were ultimately unable to save her life.

SAMU personnel also arrived at the scene and pronounced the woman dead.