First responders rescued dozens of people from inside an assisted living facility where nine people were killed.

Elderly residents – some in wheelchairs and some dependent on oxygen tanks – were blinded by deadly smoke as they tried to escape an assisted-living facility in Fall River, Massachusetts, which caught fire Sunday evening.

The investigation into the fire’s cause is ongoing but “does not appear to be suspicious,” according to the Bristol County district attorney's office.

A deadly fire tore through an assisted living facility in Fall River, Massachusetts, on Sunday night, July 13. The Fall River Fire Department said the fire caused multiple injuries and fatalities at the Gabriel House home on Oliver Street, ABC6 reported.

River Fire Department confirmed that there are multiple injuries and fatalities. A family reunification centre has now been set up at the chapel at the St. Anne’s Hospital.

A fire that broke out at an assisted living facility for the elderly near Boston on Sunday night killed at least nine people and injured 30 others, authorities said.