Thick Smoke at Hospital Sultanah Nur Zahirah Terengganu

Patients and staff of the Sultanah Nur Zahirah hospital (HSNZ) here went into a state of panic when a building under construction at its premises caught fire and emitted thick smoke.

As a result, hundreds of patients from the main hospital building and an adjacent building housing maternity wards had to be moved to lower floors.

The building under construction Quality Control senior engineer, Yassin Sidek said the incident took place at 4pm when a torch lighted by workers set ablaze PVC glue placed at the entrance door to the block.

"Within a few seconds, the building was emitting thick smoke and almost half of its air condition conduits was on fire," he told reporters at the scene of the fire.

He said he panicked and asked the hospital security to inform the Fire and Rescue Department. A total 237 workers were working at the site when the fire took broke out.

Work on the new six-storey building started in September 2008 and is scheduled to be completed in April next year.

Meanwhile, Jalan Kota Fire and Rescue Department Station chief Azmi Salleh said the fire damaged four per cent of the ground floor of the building but no casualties were reported.


- Bernama