SIX residents died in a fire at a Spanish retirement home in a suburb of Valencia early yesterday.

The blaze started late Tuesday night and took around two hours to bring under control, the fire department said on Twitter.

Five people died in the home and a sixth died in hospital, the regional health department said.

Around 70 residents were evacuated from the home in the suburb of Moncada, and 15 people were taken to hospital suffering from smoke inhalation, emergency services said.

Town councilor and firefighter Martin Perez Aranda told the television channel 24H that an unextinguished cigarette or an electrical fault linked to an oxygen bottle were among the possible causes being investigated.(SD-Agencies)