JOHOR BARU: The fire at the Sultanah Aminah Hospital today, which left six patients dead, may have started from a treatment room at its second floor Intensive Care Unit.
Johor Fire and Rescue Department operation division assistant director Mohd Rizal Buang said 80 per cent of the ICU was destroyed as a result.
“Initial findings, based on an eyewitness account, said the fire began from the ICU's treatment room.
“Almost 80 per cent of the ICU ward area was destroyed. There were 10 people inside at the time; seven patients and three hospital staff, including one physiotherapy trainee,” he said.
Rizal said six out of the seven patients died in the blaze.
The seventh patient survived with injuries and was rushed to the Sultan Ismail Hospital, Pandan, Johor Baru.
Three hospital staff were in the ICU at the time including a trainee.
“The three were injured while evacuating the patients from the ICU,” he said.
Rizal said the rescue team comprised 166 personnel and 10 fire trucks from five fire stations, deployed to the hospital after receiving an alert at 8.50am.
“We managed to prevent the fire from spreading by 10.30am. The blaze was put out almost an hour later. The operation ended by 1.30pm,” he said.
Rizal said the firefighting system at Level Two was operational and the water sprinklers were fully functioning during the incident.
He said their forensic team is collecting samples at the site to identify the cause of the blaze.