Fire causes panic at Ntcheu District Hospital: ‘We thank God no one is hurt’

There was panic among patients at Ntcheu District Hospital on Wednesday afternoon when part of the facility caught fire, forcing some patients to flee the wards.

Guardians with children in their hands fled the hospital’s wards in an attempt to save the lives of their beloved ones after getting reports that part of the facility had caught fire.

Ntcheu District Hospital Health Promotion officer, Stella Kawalala, said  the fire, which is suspected to have emanated from an electrical fault gutted down part of the facility’s pharmacy.

“We just saw that smoke was coming out from the pharmacy and we suspect that it could be an electrical fault from within the pharmacy which caused the fire,” said Kawalala.

When this reporter visited the facility, some patients and guardians were seen outside the wards, trying to run away from the fire which was contained some minutes later by hospital officials and police.

According to district health officer for Ntcheu, Dr Mike Chisema, no drugs were affected by the fire.

“We thank God that no one is hurt and that the fire did not catch any drug. The drugs that have been affected were destroyed by water and extinguishing powder as we were trying to put off the fire,” he said.

Meanwhile, the hospital officials are yet to access the extent of damage caused by the fire.

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