At least 32 drug addicts have died at a rehab centre in Lima when a fire swept through the two-storey building.

The fire Saturday was caused by an explosion of a gas cooker, the RPP radio said.

But witnesses said it started when some inmates set fire to their mattresses.

The victims could not escape as the exits were mostly locked up, Xinhua reported.

Some patients survived by jumping out of the windows on the second floor.

The injured were sent to hospital.

The centre housed 80 drug addicts.