Assisted Living Facility Evacuated Hours After 8 Die In Nursing Home

Follow CBSMIAMI.COM: Facebook | Twitter

NORTH MIAMI BEACH (CBSMiami) -- A North Miami Beach assisted living facility has been evacuated, just hours after eight people died at a Hollywood Hills nursing home.

Video from Chopper 4, over the Krystal Bay Nursing & Rehabilitation Center on West Dixie Highway, shows residents being taken out of the building and loaded into vans for transportation to different facilities in Hallandale Beach and Miami Beach.

The facility was evacuated because there is no power.

This evacuation comes the same day six people died at The Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills.

Hollywood Police Chief Tom Sanchez said investigators believe the deaths were heat-related, and added: "The building has been sealed off and we are conducting a criminal investigation."

He said investigators have not ruled anything out, including carbon monoxide poisoning from generators. The chief also said investigators will look into how many windows were open in the nursing home, where the air conditioning wasn't working.

"It's a sad state of affairs," Sanchez said. "We all have elderly people in facilities, and we all know we depend on those people in those facilities to care for a vulnerable elderly population."

Gov. Rick Scott called on Florida emergency workers to immediately check on nursing homes and assisted living facilities to make sure the patients are safe. And he ordered an investigation into what he called an "unfathomable" situation.

"I am demanding answers," he tweeted.