A fire has forced hundreds of patients to evacuate from Charlotte Maxeke hospital, Johannesburg, one of the biggest public hospitals in South Africa. No injuries or casualties have been reported
The fire started Friday morning and had been doused by the afternoon but then it reignited in the evening and burned through the night into Saturday morning.
According to Officials, The fire started in a storeroom for dry surgical supplies. It has caused extensive damage to the Charlotte Maxeke hospital,patients are being moved to other hospitals.
Gauteng health spokeswoman, Kwara Kekana told the Associated Press that “Our firefighters have been receiving help from others in neighbouring municipalities. It has been a tedious process trying to move patients. At first, we moved them to wards that were far away from the fire but we started to evacuate them,”
Kekana noted it is still a process that is ongoing, we are now referring all patients to other hospitals,” said Kekana.
The hospital is also a designated treatment centre for COVID-19.
David Makhuru, Premier of Gauteng, has declared the hospital to be shut down.