Six people were reportedly killed when a fire broke out at a Johor Baru hospital on Tuesday.
Channel News Asia reports that the fire started at around 8.55am on the second floor of the Sultanah Aminah Hospital.
Johor’s Fire and Rescue Department director Othman Abdullah told the news portal that the fire department received an emergency call at around 8.56am, and a total of 160 firemen and 10 emergency vehicles rushed to the scene.
The six patients who reportedly died in the fire – four women and two men – were among the seven patients in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) located at the southern side of the hospital.
“There were seven critically ill patients in the ICU who, according to doctors, were dependent on ventilators under normal circumstances and could not be moved without their beds,” he was quoted as saying.
Othman added that firemen managed to rescue the seventh patient.
Meanwhile, Johor Baru (South) OCPD Asst Comm Sulaiman Salleh told The Star Online that all of the victims were in their 50s.
“We believe that all the victims died due to suffocation caused by the thick smoke in the ward,” he was quoted as saying.
Patients who in the maternity ward, including some who had just given birth, were reportedly evacuated safely.
Health Ministry director-general Noor Hisham Abdullah said in a statement that patients who were evacuated from SAH were reportedly taken to other hospitals in the state.
