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At least 41 people have been killed and more than 80 injured in a fire at a hospital in South Korea which mostly cares for elderly people, NBC News reports.

The blaze broke out at the Sejong Hospital in the city of Miryang, about 270 kilometres south-east of Seoul, around 7.30am (local time).

A total of 194 people had been hospitalised in two buildings of the hospital — the general medical ward and its nursing ward for the elderly.

The blaze began at the general ward's first-floor emergency room and most of the dead were from the first and second floors, the National Fire Agency official said.

Officials said the death toll was expected to rise further.

The cause of the fire was not immediately determined.

Miryang fire officials put out the blaze around three hours after it started and preventing it from reaching the upper floors.

Most of the 39 deaths appeared to be due to suffocation, with only one suffering burns, said an agency official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to media.
At least 14 people were listed as critically injured.

The hospital's operations were suspended after the fire.

President Moon Jae-in convened an emergency meeting with senior advisers and expressed regret over the blaze.