Seventeen people have died after a fire broke out at an illegally-run home for the elderly near Ukraine's capital Kiev this morning.

Eighteen people were rescued from the two-story building, with five of them hospitalized with burns.

Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Gennady Zubko has now ordered an inspection of all residential homes for the aged in the wake of the tragedy.

Kiev regional police said that the owner of the facility in Litichki village has also been detained.