Montevideo, July 8 : A fire that occurred in a nursing home in the Uruguayan city of Treinta y Tres on Sunday caused 10 deaths, the National Fire Department reported.

The official statement said the victims were eight women and two men. The incident occurred at 6:00 a.m. local time in the "Adulto Mayor" residential complex in the city's centre, Xinhua news agency reported.

Firefighters and experts from the Montevideo Casualty Investigation Department were dispatched to assist and investigate the cause of the outbreak.

Since last week, Uruguay has been experiencing a cold wave, with early morning temperatures below zero degrees Celsius and daytime temperatures not exceeding 10 degrees.

Treinta y Tres, the capital city of the Treinta y Tres Department in eastern Uruguay, is a city of 25,000 inhabitants located 288 kilometres northeast of Montevideo.

/IANS