Nine people died Sunday night after an assisted living facility caught fire in Fall River, Massachusetts, officials said, with elderly people begging for help from first responders as smoke poured out of the building and blackened the hallways residents tried to use for their escape.

It’s horrifying to think about what happened in the middle of the night, in the dark,” Gov. Maura Healey said following the deadly blaze. The post 9 dead, 1 critical in Fall River assisted living facility fire.