An 82-year-old Maltese-Australian, Caesar Galea, has become the seventh fatality of the fire which destroyed a home for the elderly in Australia last week.

Mr Galea succumbed to his injuries last night at Hawkesbury Hospital. Maltese consular staff are in contact with his family.

An elderly Maltese woman is also in intensive care after the deadly blaze tore through the nursing home in New South Wales, Australia, on Friday.

Manuela Cachia, 75, who has been living in Australia since 1955, is being treated at Westmead Hospital after inhaling smoke .

Another Maltese woman is believed to have resided in the nursing home though details about her were still unclear.

Thousands of Maltese migrants live in the western suburbs of New South Wales, located 40 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district.

The Maltese chaplain of the diocese of Parramatta, Fr Benedict Sant, said the nursing home had over the years housed several Maltese.

A local Maltese community member regularly visits nursing homes in the area, Fr Sant said when contacted.

Dominican nun Georgina Sultana said the Dominican nuns had prepared a room to welcome any elderly people who needed to be housed, following the incident.

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