Warsaw - Police in Poland were on Tuesday searching for two residents of a hostel for the homeless where a weekend fire killed 21 people and injured 21 others, local media reported. Seventy-seven people were registered in the hostel in the Baltic Sea coastal town of Kamien Pomorski, around 500 kilometres north-west of the capital Warsaw. The fire erupted late Sunday after midnight.

Of the 77 people registered, 54 are alive and 23 now feared dead. Twenty-one bodies have been recovered so far.

Witnesses said some hostel residents were hurt when they jumped from windows. An eight-month-old baby was among the injured.

On Monday afternoon Prime Minister Donald Tusk visited the scene, while President Lech Kaczynski has declared a three-day period of national mourning. (dpa)