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Ras Al Khaimah: A massive fire ravaged the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit on the fifth floor of Saqr Hospital, early Monday, forcing the management to quickly evacuate more than a hundred patients.
No one was injured in the blaze.
Scores of ambulances and rescue vehicles transferred patients to Saif Bin Gobash Hospital, RAK Private Hospital, and medical centres after the fire broke out at 2am.
Families of patients helped in the evacuation.
Colonel Saeed Imbasi, head of Ras Al Khaimah Civil Defence Department, said a miracle saved the patients.
The evacuation started before rescue vehicles arrived. Colonel Imbasi said the police assume the fire was caused by a short circuit.
A team of experts from the Criminal Laboratory was set up to investigate the cause of the fire that broke out in the emirate's biggest public hospital.
Mahmoud Abu Na'aj, a nurse on the first floor in the hospital, said he noticed heavy smoke.
"We called the people in charge to investigate and a few moments later we received orders to evacuate the hospital," he said.
Some patients fled their rooms on their own, he said adding that others panicked because they were with children.
Nasser Yousuf, a Palestinian patient who underwent a kidney surgery, said a foul smell spread through the hospital.
Patients started leaving their rooms without waiting for assistance, he said. "I carried an Egyptian patient who could not move."
The wheel-chair bound Egyptian, Abu Mohammad, said Yousuf saved his life. He said he could not stay in his room waiting for help that might never come.
Not enough hands
Mohammad said the conditions in the hospital were a mess, and that the number of nurses was not enough to handle such situations.
Mahmoud Ahmad, another Egyptian patient who underwent surgery in his eye, said he was asleep and someone knocked on his door asking him to leave the hospital. "I let immediately, without my belongings."
Lieutenant Colonel Mohammad Ali Shlaik, head of Civil Defence Department, highlighted the efforts exerted by the hospital's medical teams in evacuating patients.
Dr Yousuf Al Tair, head of Casualty Department at Saqr Hospital, said once the fire was reported the children were moved to the corridors of the fifth floor. Critical cases were also moved to safer places in lower floors.
Dr Al Tair said staffers of Saqr Hospital adhered to the evacuation plan and transferred all patients to safety in the hospital's yard.
Once police and civil defence arrived, they took over the operation.
A total of 114 patients were taken in ambulances to other hospitals.
Abdullah Saifan, who heads Saqr Hospital, said they were lucky that no fatalities were reported. "The neonatal section had been shut for the last week for sterilisation and not a single baby was there. Had it been occupied, it could have been a catastrophe," he added.
Ras Al Khaimah Shaikh Saud Bin Saqr Al Qasimi, Ras Al Khaimah Crown Prince and Deputy Ruler, yesterday visited Saqr Hospital.
He called on the patients who were transferred to other hospitals and instructed renovation and rehabilitation work on the hospital.
Shaikh Saud ordered the Works and General Services to start the renovation work of the hospital without delay and exert every effort to repair the damages.
He stressed the government's readiness to fix all the facilities which were damaged, and replace equipment in collaboration with the Ministry of Health.
Shaikh Saud underlined the importance of providing all the safety and security measures in medical facilities, calling on the department to give what it takes to repair Saqr Hospital.
Major General Saif Al Sha'afar, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Interior, also called on the management of Saqr Hospital to use all the efforts and help from the Ministry of Interior to ensure the safety of the people.
History: biggest facility in RAK
Saqr Hospital was constructed in 1981 and opened by His Highness Shaikh Saqr Bin Mohammad Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Ras Al Khaimah, to be the emirate's biggest public hospital.
Number of beds
Orthopaedics - 27, General Surgery - 38, Neuro Surgery - 4, Gynaecology - 21, Obstetrics - 71, Newly born - 16, Pediatric Medicine - 20, Ophthalmology - 6, ENT - 12, Emergency - 9, Urology - 8.
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