VIDEO: Fire at Saudi Arabian Hospital Kills 31, Injures 107

Thu Dec 24, 2015 15:46:59

At least 31 people have been killed and more than 100 wounded in a fire at a hospital in southern Saudi Arabia, the country’s Civil Defense Agency says.

The blaze took place at the intensive care unit and the maternity department of the Jazan General Hospital in southern Saudi Arabia, the agency wrote on its Twitter account on Thursday.

According to initial reports, the fire was caused by a short circuit in the hospital’s electrical system.

The Civil Defense Agency also said the “Jazan hospital accident is now over and investigation is underway to find out its reasons.”

It added that 21 teams had assisted in extinguishing the blaze.

Saudi Alriyadh newspaper quoted a civil defense spokesman as saying that the agency was informed of the blaze at 2:00 am (2300 GMT) on Thursday.

In a similar incident in Saudi Arabia, 10 people lost their lives and 259 sustained injuries in a fire at a residential complex rented by oil giant Saudi Aramco in the kingdom’s Eastern Province.

That fire was reportedly caused by an electrical short circuit in the underground parking lot, where 130 cars had been parked.

The kingdom has suffered a number of large-scale accidents this year. A crane collapse killed 111 and a stampede claimed the lives of at least 2,400 during the Hajj pilgrimage in September, according to an Associated Press count.

S/SH

NULL