Steve Biko Academic Hospital in Pretoria has suffered another fire – the second in just two weeks. The blaze is believed to have started in a linen closet in a medical ward on Sunday evening.
News24 reports Gauteng health department spokesperson Kwara Kekana as saying that “while the definite cause of the fire is unknown, the facility has confirmed cigarette butts were found close to the area where the fire started”. Patients were temporarily evacuated and there were no casualties.
City Press was reliably informed that the hospital’s emergency unit has not been operational since the fire, however, Kekana insisted it was business as usual.
There was another fire at the hospital on 30 May – started in a temporary storage unit. There were no casualties in that incident either.
In the same week, a fire broke out at the Life Chatsmed Hospital in Durban (5 June), with patients being being safely evacuated to sister hospitals in the area. The cause of the blaze is unknown.
Second fire at Steve Biko Hospital in two weeks (Open access)
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
No casualties after fires at two hospitals, in two provinces
Limpopo hospital fire leaves 2 patients dead
What really happened in the Charlotte Maxeke Hospital fire
Western Cape hospital fire under investigation