Doha: Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani yesterday sent a cable to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, expressing deep condolences and sincere sympathy over the victims of a fire that broke out at Jizan General Hospital.
The Emir prayed to the Almighty God to bestow his mercy on them, rest them in peace and bless the injured with a speedy recovery.
At least 25 people died and 123 injured in the blaze, Qatar News Agency reports. About 21 brigades and security and service teams arrived at the scene and the injured were shifted to hospitals.
Investigation was under way to ascertain the cause of the fire, officials added. The Civil Defence Directorate tweeted that the fire was brought under control.
The blaze broke out in the intensive care unit (ICU) and the Maternity Department of the hospital in the south of the kingdom, the Civil Defence Agency tweeted.
Later, in an update, it said the blaze had been extinguished and an investigation was under way.
Twenty-one teams of emergency workers assisted in putting out the blaze in Jizan, the capital of the Jizan province, the agency added. The teams evacuated the children and patients from the ICU, the health ministry said on its Twitter account.
Al Riyadh daily quoted a Civil Defence spokesman as saying that the agency was alerted of the fire at 2am (2300 GMT Wednesday).
Al Ekhbariya TV interviewed a witness who said the cause of the fire seemed to be electrical, and that it took only three minutes to sweep through the hospital.
The 25 dead included one child, the TV quoted Major General Saad bin Al Ghamdi, Director, Civil Defence in Jizan, as saying.
Ahmed Al Sahli, Director of Health Affairs in the region, told Al Arabiya that many people had been able to escape easily because the doors were open and safety equipment was in place.Agencies
