10th resident dies in Fall River assisted-living fire
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Nine people have died after a Massachusetts assisted living facility caught fire Sunday night. The death toll was revised after an error from the district attorney’s office on Friday. Elderly residents rushed to their windows to scream and beg for help as smoke filled the hallways.
More than 75 percent of Gabriel House residents are enrolled in Medicaid, state officials have said, and it charges significantly less than a typical assisted living facility does for private-paying patients.
A Massachusetts assisted-living center where nine residents died in a fire was cited for failing to immediately report more than two dozen health and safety incidents.
Video from police body cameras shows officers entering the building during the fire and assisting with the rescues of residents. (The Fall River Police Department edited this footage.)
It’s very important in a crisis that people stay in contact,” Mayor Paul Coogan said in a wide-ranging interview from his office Friday.
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There’s no doubt in my mind that that fire was destined to kill 50-plus people,” Fall River Fire Chief Jeffrey Bacon said Wednesday.