Hundreds of patients were moved to safety on Saturday after a fire extensively damaged a 1000-bed hospital in South Africa’s commercial capital Johannesburg.
City officials and paramedics said the fire, which started on Friday morning at Charlotte Maxeke Hospital and had earlier been doused, reignited in the evening of the same day and was only contained on Saturday.
So severe was the fire that it caused part of the building to collapse on Saturday.
Gauteng province premier David Makhura said close to 700 patients had been evacuated from the hospital and that the facility would be closed for seven days to allow for repairs.
“We are shutting down the hospital as a precautionary measure because there is a lot of smoke that went into other areas, including wards,” said Makhura.
Among those evacuated were 13 COVID-19 patients, including two who were in intensive care wards, according to the premier.
JN/APA