SANTIAGO, Chile -- Chilean authorities say that at least 10 elderly people have been killed as a fire swept through a nursing home. The fire took place early Tuesday at the Santa Marta nursing home about 320 miles south of the Chilean capital.

Only three elderly women were rescued from the burning dormitory room ravaged by the blaze. Authorities were still investigating the cause of the fire.

Chile's Tele13 reported that all the victims were female residents of the Santa Maria nursing home in the town of Chiguayante.

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Tele13's website quoted Jorge Ulloa, an official from the Biobio region, as saying none of the other dormitories at the nursing home were affected by the fire.

He said there were 42 residents at the home at the time of the blaze. It has a maximum capacity of 46, according to Ulloa.