10 Die, 40 Hurt in Fire in Italian Prison

Toxic smoke from a fire in the women’s wing of a prison killed 10 people and injured about 40, officials said Sunday.

The blaze at the maximum-security prison began just before midnight Saturday in a pile of mattresses that investigators said contained a petroleum resin that produces a toxic, acrid smoke when burned.

Police spokesman Piero Sassi said guards and prison firefighters responded quickly but could not save eight female inmates and two women guards who died of smoke inhalation in the first minutes of the blaze.

Investigators said they believed the fire began accidentally, but authorities appointed a commission of inquiry that began its investigation Sunday.

The mattresses were stored on a third-floor porch under the windows of some cells. Investigators said a match may have been dropped from a window. Smoke quickly entered the cells through the windows, which were left open because it was warm, officials said.