• Home

Fire destroys Saqr hospital ward; patients evacuated

RAS Al KHAIMAH — A major fire broke out in Saqr Government Hospital, the biggest hospital in the emirate, in the early hours of yesterday, forcing the management to evacuate all patients from the five-storey building.

The entire post-natal ward was gutted.

Police said the fire was caused by old and faulty wiring.

Brigadier Saeed Matar Mbassi, Director of the Civil Defence Department in Ras Al Khaimah, said the fire started around 1.25am on the fifth floor in the post-natal ward. Fortunately, there were no babies in the ward at the time and hence, there were no casualties.

He, however, said there was a huge loss of property, including hospital equipment, as the whole ward was completely gutted.

Police and the Civil Defence personnel rushed to the 235-bed hospital immediately after getting the information and managed to put out the fire within 15 minutes before it spread to the other floors.

There was a lot of panic among the doctors and patients as the smoke engulfed the building, forcing the hospital management to evacuate all patients.

Brigadier Mbassi said with the help of over 20 ambulances, the police and Civil Defence personnel assisted the hospital management in the evacuation and transfer of patients from Saqr hospital, especially those who were in the intensive care units, to other nearby facilities such as Seif hospital and Obaidullah Private Hospital till the situation returned to normal.

Lt-Colonel Khalid Al Naqdi of the Ras Al Khaimah Police said the preliminary investigations showed that the fire started in one of the offices due to the old electrical wiring and then spread to the rest of the newborn babies ward in the hospital.