Fire at US nursing home kills 10

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Ten people have been killed and at least 19 injured in a fire at a home for the elderly and mentally ill in the US state of Missouri.

The Anderson Guest House, south of the city of Joplin, housed some 33 residents and two employees.

The cause of the blaze, which was reported in the early hours of Monday morning, is not yet known.

The governor of Missouri, Matt Blunt, said the authorities were not ruling out a criminal investigation.

The New York Times newspaper quotes a Missouri state fire official as saying many of those taken to hospital were released after receiving treatment for smoke inhalation.

The blaze was extinguished before daylight, after it had destroyed everything except for the walls of the building.

A local police official, Kent Casey, told the Associated Press news agency the building was engulfed in flames by the time fire crews had arrived.

"It's terrible," he said. "I have never been involved in a fire in which 10 people lost their lives."