Six die in Florida nursing home

HOLLYWOOD, Fla: Hurricane Irma claimed eight more lives, including six patients at a Florida nursing home that lost power, authorities said on Wednesday, as millions struggled without electricity and residents trickled back to the devastated Florida Keys.

Categorized as one of the most powerful Atlantic storms on record when it rampaged through the Caribbean, Irma has killed at least 70 people, officials said. At least 27 people died in Florida and nearby US states, and destruction was widespread in the Keys, where Irma made initial US landfall on Sunday and became the second major hurricane to strike the mainland this season.

Some 4.3 million homes and businesses, or about 9 million people, were without power at midday Wednesday in Florida and nearby states. Police opened a criminal investigation at the Rehabilitation Center of Hollywood Hills, where two elderly residents were found dead at the facility and three later died at a hospital, officials said. Some residents were evacuated early Sunday morning and some woke up feeling sick at the center, which had been without air conditioning, Broward County Mayor Barbara Sharief told reporters on Wednesday. "The building has been sealed off and we are conducting a criminal investigation inside," Hollywood Police Chief Thomas Sanchez told reporters on Wednesday. —