Paralysed smoker dies in flat blaze
A paralysed man perished when a fire ripped through an apartment in Graz yesterday evening (Weds).Paramedics failed to resuscitate the 52-year-old man after firemen entered the burning flat in the Styrian city. A female neighbour and the wheelchair-bound mans sister had to be hospitalised suffering from serious smoke intoxication. The women had tried to extinguish the blaze before fire fighters reached the scene.Investigations are ongoing, but officials said today that the fire could have been caused by a cigarette the sleeping man dropped. His sister told police he was a heavy smoker.Meanwhile, a mentally ill woman set a blanket in her room at a living community in Schärding, Upper Austria, on fire. A quick-thinking carer managed to avoid substantial damage to the chamber by extinguishing the blaze after finding out what had happened. No one was harmed in the incident.