Mexico City, Jun 24 (IANS): At least 16 senior citizens were killed in a fire at a nursing home in Mexico's Baja California, officials said on Wednesday.

There were 45 people in the nursing home, when the accident occurred early on Tuesday in a rural area on the outskirts of Mexicali, a city on the Mexico-US border, Xinhua news agency reported.

A total of 15 elderly people died in the blaze and five were transported to a nearby hospital for further treatment, said Mayor Jaime Rafael Diaz Ochoa during a press conference.

One person is still missing, according to the mayor.

One of the five people who were taken to hospital succumbed to his injuries, bringing the toll to 16, Deputy Procurator for Baja California Fernando Ramirez Amador said.

The nursing home, Hermoso Amanecer, is run by the non-governmental organisation Cultural Society Promoter for Social Welfare and has been in operation for a decade, according to local daily El Economista.