The Nation - News from Oct. 6, 1989

At least 11 people were killed and scores were hospitalized when fire broke out in a 160-bed nursing home in Norfolk, Va., authorities said. The fire was on the second floor of the Hillhaven Rehabilitation and Convalescent Center, a four-story brick structure. Authorities said nine bodies had been accounted for at the scene, and two more people were dead on arrival at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital. Dazed and confused, Hillhaven residents were taken to nearby yards where firefighters, paramedics and neighbors of the home tried to calm them and keep them warm against the night air. Inside the structure, firefighters found scores of bedridden patients who had to be gingerly guided down ladders or along smoke-filled hallways.