A fire broke out at the Ywar Thar Gyi Yangon Psychiatric Health Hospital in East Dagon Township at midnight last night, with 50 fire trucks arriving at the scene after the danger level was raised to Level Three (out of six levels) based on the rapid spread and escalating seriousness of the flames.
Photos uploaded by the Myanmar Fire Services Department on to its official Facebook page show firefighters, armed with flashlights, yellow hardhats, and water hoses, battling flames in the narrow hallways of the hospital.
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According to a Facebook live video, also posted by the Fire Services Department, firefighters were able to fully put out the blaze, and none of the patients or staff of the hospital were injured or trapped in the burning building.
Although significant portions of the building were engulfed in flames, the hospital itself remains charred but standing.
The cause of the fire is still unknown, though authorities say that they are now investigating how the fire began and why it spread so quickly.
“Right now, we don’t know what caused the fire. The Yangon Fire Department is working closely with the Yangon police to investigate this case,” a Yangon Fire Department representative who requested to remain anonymous told Coconuts Yangon over the phone.
Ywar Thar Gyi is one of two major mental health hospitals operating in Myanmar, and currently houses about 1,500 patients.
