TAIF, 9 March 2004 — A fire broke out last Wednesday night in the generator control room of the Al-Hada Military Hospital in Taif. Because of smoke spreading through the hospital in the airconditioning ducts, the hospital was evacuated.
Al-Watan reports that as of Saturday, three people had died.
The Head of Health Affairs, Dr. Khaled Al-Sumairi, said that 19 patients were taken out and 16 were transferred to military hospitals. He confirmed that major hospitals in Taif had been able to accommodate the patients in a few hours.
Before the fire broke out, the entire gynecology and obstetrics section — 142 women, 38 children and 14 newborns — had been transferred to King Abdul Aziz Specialist Hospital.
A number of patients and their families have criticized the evacuation of the hospital.
However, officials said that 16 newborn babies as well as 15 premature ones had been moved in an organized fashion contrary to what some family members alleged.
Family members said that if the hospital had been equipped with the proper emergency network, the situation would have been brought under control without the need for evacuation.
Furthermore, they complained that the hospital lacked an emergency alarm system with lights not working in the emergency department.
In addition, the generator at the hospital was over 20 years old.
