Six patients - four women and two men - were killed in a fire at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the Sultanah Aminah Hospital in Johor Bahru.

JOHOR BAHRU: Six patients - four women and two men - were killed in a fire at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of Johor's biggest hospital.

The fire on level two of the Sultanah Aminah Hospital (HSA) started at around 8.55am on Tuesday (Oct 25).

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Director of Johor's Fire and Rescue Department Othman Abdullah said 166 firemen and 10 emergency vehicles were rushed to HSA at 8.56am.

Mr Othman said those who were killed were among the seven patients in the southern ICU on the second floor of the hospital. One patient was rescued by firefighters, he added.

"There were seven critically ill patients in the ICU who, according to doctors, were dependent on ventilators under normal circumstances and could not be moved without their beds," he said, adding that the fire did not spread to other areas of the hospital.

Patients evacuated from HSA were taken to other hospitals in the state, Health Ministry director-general Noor Hisham Abdullah said in a statement.

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Providing further details on the incident at a press conference, health minister Dr S Subramaniam confirmed that in addition to the patients, there were 10 members of staff in the ICU when the fire broke out.

Dr Subramaniam said that the members of staff sustained injuries and three were receiving assisted ventilation at a nearby hospital.

Video: HSA fire press conference 1

Said the minister: "The sprinkler system was operational and officers on duty also tried to use a fire extinguisher, but both steps were unsuccessful in controlling the fire, which was spreading rapidly.

"This is an incident where all the preparations we had made were unable to help control the fire. This could be because of the ICU environment - patients were on oxygen machines and fire needs oxygen. That could be why the flames spread so rapidly and so intensely. It became uncontrollable in seconds."



Malaysia's Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Health Minister Dr S. Subramaniam examine the damage to the Sultanah Aminah hospital following the fire on Tuesday (Oct 25). (Photo: Amir Yusof)

"DARK ... SMOKE EVERYWHERE"

Earlier in the day, Johor Bahru Selatan Police Chief ACP Sulaiman Salleh said five of the bodies were found at 11.15am and the sixth a little later.

Chief firefighter Muhammad Rizal Bin Buang described the scene when he arrived at the ICU ward.

"When we entered the ward, it was already dark and there was smoke everywhere. But thankfully, we managed to contain the fire to that specific ward. We tried to save the seven patients, who all needed oxygen assistance as part of their treatment. But we could only rescue one in time. We are still investigating the source of the fire," he added.

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An eyewitness, Habibah Abd Ghani, 37, said she was not aware of the fire and only realised it after she was out of the building.



"During the incident, I was in the fourth floor ward with my father who was admitted for pain in his ribs. Then I heard a commotion and was asked by the nurse to get out of the ward."



She added: "The situation was under control as we went down the stairs, assisted by the hospital employees."

FB scenes outside hospital

Dr Subramaniam said the cause of the fire will be revealed only after the investigation and advised against speculation. However, eyewitnesses claimed they first saw smoke and fire coming out of a treatment room in the ICU, he added.



In a tweet posted earlier, Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak also said: "The government will conduct a thorough investigation as soon as possible to identify the cause of the fire."



Dr Subramaniam said he met the families of victims at the mortuary before his press conference.



"I know it's hard for them to accept what's happened. I pray for strength for them to overcome this. I've asked the hospital to provide aid to the families," he said.



The Health Ministry announced on Tuesday evening that it will be setting up a special committee to investigate the incident.</s>JOHOR BAHRU: A fire at the Sultanah Aminah Hospital here today resulted in the deaths of six patients at an intensive care unit, according to the Johor Fire and Rescue Department.

Its director, Othman Abdullah, said they were among the seven patients in the southern ICU on the second floor of the hospital.

One patient was rescued by firefighters who rushed there after being notified at 8.56am, he added.

“There were seven critically ill patients in the ICU who, according to doctors, were dependent on ventilators under normal circumstances and could not be moved without their beds,” he said.

Othman said the department rushed 10 trucks and 166 firefighters to the hospital soon after it was summoned.

He said the fire did not spread to other areas of the hospital.

Meanwhile, Johor Bahru Selatan Police chief ACP Sulaiman Salleh said five of the bodies were found at 11.15am and the sixth a little later.

He advised the public not to be taken in by unverified information. – Bernama</s>Evacuated patients are treated on beds in a temporary tents after a fire broke out on the second floor of the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of Hospital Sultanah Aminah in Johor Bahru in southern state of Johor, Malaysia Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2016. The fire at the hospital has killed several patients and triggered the evacuation of hundreds of others. (AP Photo)</s>Republicans were against this health care system, but the Democrats (including Ward) passed this through.

Where was the civil discourse conversation?

Ward confuses civil discourse with thinking my way or you are not nice. Ward, to this day, is not discussing the health care system, and does not have this on her literature as a item to work on.

Next, Ward wants to pass the bus-rapid transit in Woodbury, without a real discussion.

Few weeks back there was a town hall meeting on bus-rapid transit. Ward was not there, matter of fact, no Democratic candidates showed up to have civil discourse (conversation).

Please vote for Andy Turonie, he was there. Turonie is listening. Turonie has been at the doors asking what the community wants. Turonie understands civil discourse.</s>Three Indian-origin Malaysians were among six persons killed today when a fire broke out at the intensive care unit of a major government hospital in southern Malaysia's Johor Baru.



 The fire, which broke out on the second floor of the Sultanah Aminah Hospital early morning, forced the mass evacuation of hundreds of patients and medical staff.



 According to police, four women and two men, all in their 50s, died in the fire. The deceased include two ethnic Indian women and an ethnic Indian man, police added.



 "The government will conduct a thorough investigation as soon as possible to identify the cause of the fire and the safety level (at the hospital)," Malaysia's Prime minister Najib Razak tweeted.



 There were a total of 193 staff and 294 patients at the hospital when the fire broke out. A few others were injured in the blaze.



 Meanwhile, the Sultan of Johor state Ibrahim Ibni Almarhum Sultan Iskandar has instructed the hospital authorities to use the royal ward for patients as the intensive care unit (ICU) was badly damaged in the fire.



 Founded in 1882, Sultanah Aminah Hospital is a government-funded multi-specialty hospital. It is the biggest hospital in Johor.</s>BANDUNG: Malaysia’s Johor government expressed condolences to the families of the hospital patients killed in a fire today in Johor Bahru and promised them aid.

Johor Health and Environment Committee chairman Datuk Ayub Rahmat, who is attending a meeting here, said the authorities were shocked by the incident.

Initial reports indicated that six critically ill patients died in the fire which started at about 9am at a second-floor intensive care unit of the Sultanah Aminah Hospital in Johor Bahru.

“We (the Johor government) will provide the appropriate aid soon to the next-of-kin of those who died,” Ayub told reporters here.

He is attending the International Conference on Low Carbon Asia Research Network.

Ayub said the authorities welcomed assistance from private hospitals to temporarily house those patients who would have to be moved out immediately. – Bernama</s>JOHOR BAHRU: The fire that claimed the lives of six people at the Sultanah Aminah Hospital (HSA) yesterday was believed to have started from its treatment room in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) before spreading to the entire ward.

Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S Subramaniam said it was also believed that the blaze was not easy to put out and was spreading too fast due to the presence breathing apparatus which contained oxygen gas that had been used by patients in the ICU.

“Efforts to save all patients were made. Since the fire spread too fast, some staff who were on duty suffered from difficulty in breathing and some fainted due to thick smoke,” he told a press conference here yesterday.

Dr Subramaniam said the ministry would wait for a full report from the Fire and Rescue Department before taking further action.

Meanwhile, in a statement earlier, he said the ministry would get to the bottom of the tragedy by appointing a special committee comprising the relavant agencies and team of experts.

“We’ve been informed that the rapid spread of the fire and huge columns of smoke had hindered the rescue efforts,” Dr Subramaniam said.

The six people who perished in the fire that broke out just before 9am yesterday were all ICU patients. The seventh patient was rescued.

At the press conference, Dr Subramaniam said that he hoped that the victims’ families and their next-of-kin would remain strong despite the tragedy.

At the same time, he had instructed the hospital’s staff to render any kind of assistance needed by the families of the victims.

“As an institution that provides healthcare to patients, we’re certainly very saddened by this incident. We’re asking the public not to speculate about the cause of the fire,” he said.

Asked whether safety checks had been carried out at the hospital, Dr Subramaniam said it had always been conducted and in fact, the ministry itself has a dedicated team to monitor such matters.

Dr Subramaniam thanked the fire and rescue crews for preventing the blaze from spreading to other parts of the building, and HSA staff for evacuating 467 patients to safety.

Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, in a Facebook posting, said a detailed briefing on the fire was provided by HSA staff as well as fire and police officials during a visit by the minister, Health secretary-general Datuk Seri Dr Chen Chaw Min and himself to the hospital.

“The fire started at the treatment room in the ICU before it became uncontrolled and spread to the rest of the ICU,” he said.

He said the water sprinklers were triggered and hospital staff tried to control the fire with available fire extinguishers before the Fire and Rescue teams arrived to control the situation.

“Their efforts managed to contain the blaze at this floor from spreading,” he said. — Bernama</s>KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — A fire at a Malaysian government hospital killed six patients and injured another patient and 10 hospital staff early Tuesday, officials said.

Some 500 people were evacuated from the hospital in southern Johor state after the fire raged through two floors of a building that houses the intensive care unit. Temporary tents were being used as treatment areas for patients after the evacuation.

Health Minister S. Subramaniam said six patients were trapped and died. Another patient was rescued but suffered severe burns while 10 hospital workers were injured, he said in a statement.

Johor police official Sulaiman Salleh said the bodies of four women and two men have been recovered from the hospital.

He told local media that the victims were believed to have suffocated in the thick smoke. Sulaiman said an initial investigation showed that faulty wiring may have caused the fire.

Officials said 10 fire engines were deployed to the scene and managed to stop the fire from spreading to other floors of the building.</s>Staff unable to save patients too sick to be moved without their bed and ventilators from fire

JOHOR BAHRU: A fire at the Sultanah Aminah Hospital here yesterday resulted in the deaths of six patients at an intensive care unit,according to the Johor Fire and Rescue Department.

Its director, Othman Abdullah, said they were among the seven patients in the southern ICU on the second floor of the hospital.

One patient was rescued by firefighters who rushed there after being notified at 8.56am, he added.

“There were seven critically ill patients in the ICU who, according to doctors were dependent on ventilators under normal circumstances and could not be moved without their beds,” he said.

Othman said the department rushed 10 trucks and 166 firefighters to the hospital soon after it was summoned.

He said the fire did not spread to other areas of the hospital.

Meanwhile, Johor Bahru Selatan Police chief ACP Sulaiman Salleh said five of the bodies were found at 11.15am and the sixth a little later.

He advised the public not to be taken in by unverified information.

Meanwhile an eyewitness, Habibah Abd Ghani, 37, said she was not aware of the fire and only realised it after she was out of the building.

“During the incident, I was in the fourth floor ward accompanying my father who is admitted for pain in the rib.

“Then I heard a commotion and was asked by the nurse to get out of the ward. The situation was under control when we go down the stairs, assisted by the hospital staff,” she said when met by reporters here.

Habibah also saw many patients and hospital staff in and around the hospital at that time.

A Bernama survey at noon revealed the hospital compound was still congested with many patients and staff remaining outside the hospital building.

Meanwhile Sulaiman said during the incident 294

patients and 193 hospital staff were reported to be in the same building.

The four female patients and two male patients who died were among the seven patients in the ICU while a male patient was saved from the fire.

He said other patients had been evacuated temporarily to wards in other buildings.

Meanwhile Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the affected

patients were being sent to another hospital near Johor Bahru, especially the Sultan Ismail Hospital.

The latest information and status on the incident would be notified from time to time, he said in a statement.

He urged the people not to speculate and spread inaccurate information about the incident. — Bernama</s>An eight-year-old child of an ODM candidate in a ward by-election is fighting for life after goons attacked their family Tuesday night and left a bullet lodged inches to the child’s heart, the party said Wednesday.

Kalokol ward ODM aspirant Josephat Ekeno’s family home was attacked at night by goons who shot two of his children seriously injuring them.

The attackers had also stormed the ODM command centre in the ward and fired several gunshots in the air before heading to Mr Ekeno’s home, the party’s secretary General Agnes Zani said in a statement Wednesday.

“These are not only acts of intolerance but also a threat to the lives of citizens. That this happened under the Jubilee regime that constantly reassures Kenyans of their security yet such intimidation and use of force continues unabated,” Dr Zani said in a statement sent to newsrooms.

Mr Ekeno’s eight-year old child was shot and a bullet is lodged just a few centimetres to the heart.

Dr Zani, in the statement, said doctors at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret are battling to remove the bullet from the child.

The by-election is ongoing in the ward situated in Turkana County.

The by-election is important for ODM national vice-chair, Turkana Governor Josphat Nanok to cement his ground ahead of a bruising battle to recapture his seat in 2017.

Mr Nanok will compete against Turkana Senator John Munyes who recently ditched Ford Kenya, in which he was chairman, for the newly formed Jubilee Party.

“The party has also noted that there are reported cases of voter bribery and buying being perpetuated by Jubilee legislators. The party has taken note of this and demands appropriate action,” said Dr Zani.
A fire breaks out in the ICU ward and Maternity ward of Hospital Sultanah Aminah, Johor, Malaysia, killing six patients and injured two others. All of the patients killed were dependent on ventilators in the ICU ward.