Patients flee as blaze engulfs RAK hospital

Al Saqr Hospital's neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) has been destroyed in a massive fire, which forced the complete evacuation of the facility - the largest public hospital in the emirate of Ras Al Khaimah.

Believed to be the result of faulty wiring, the blaze started at 02:00 on May 26 and prompted a full-scale mobilisation of Al Saqr's patients. No one was injured during the incident, according to hospital officials.

"The fire was in the NICU but there were no patients - it wasn't occupied at the time but it destroyed the whole unit," Dr Adel El Tawil, medical director and head of surgery at the hospital, told Medical Times.

"It was closed for cleaning because of a previous infection and...before we got the patients back again the fire happened - we were very lucky it was completely evacuated."

Low-acuity patients were asked to temporarily return to their homes, while more serious cases were transferred to neighbouring facilities.

"Because of the risks of smoke, and as we had the assistance of the civil defence, we evacuated all of our patients to safe places," El Tawil said. "We had all the assistance of the area's [hospitals]."

The impact on the hospital's service capacity was minimal, considering the extent of the fire, El Tawil said.

"It was a smooth evacuation because it was on the fifth floor and we are a fifth storey hospital...The rest of the hospital is alright and functioning well and we will be back to normal within a few hours."

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