Firefighters try to control the fire on the second floor of the Sultanah Aminah Hospital in Johor Bahru in this Oct 25, 2016 photo. Six patients died in the blaze. Bernama Photo
SEGAMAT: A light capacitor burning up has been cited as a cause of the fire last October at the Sultanah Aminah Hospital in Johor Bahru that left six patients dead.
Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam, who disclosed this today, said this was stated in the full report on the hospital fire received by the ministry.
“Besides, there could have been inflammable material that caused the fire to spread rapidly,” he said at the handing over of material to 46 people under the 1Azam skills-development programme of the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry for the Segamat parliamentary constituency.
Subramaniam said the government had set up a commission to scrutinise all reports prepared by the Fire and Rescue Service, Public Works Department and the Energy Commission to re-evaluate certain processes in the ministry and the relevant authorities in the maintenance of public hospitals nationwide.
The commission would also provide recommendations on improvements to the existing system at hospitals, he said.
Dr Subramaniam said the Sultanah Aminah Hospital building was undergoing repairs and improvements, and was expected to be reopened in six months.
He also said that a study would be conducted to overcome congestion at the hospital to provide for patient comfort.
The fire at the hospital on Oct 28 started at the Intensive Care Unit at about 9am and resulted in the deaths of six patients.
Three hospital staff were injured while one patient at the ICU was rescued. – Bernama