Saudi Arabia hospital fire kills 25, injures more than 100

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By BNO NEWS

A fire broke out at a hospital in southern Saudi Arabia on early Thursday morning, killing at least 25 people and injuring more than 100 others, officials say.

The fire at the Jazan General Hospital in the city of Jazan began at dawn and quickly swept through the facility’s intensive care and maternity departments. The blaze killed at least 25 people and injured 107 others, though all intensive care patients and children were said to have survived.

Jazan is located near the border with Yemen, about 927 kilometers (576 miles) southwest of the capital Riyadh.

In a statement, the health ministry said that all of the victims were due to smoke inhalation. “Only eight cases are still in the intensive care units,” the ministry said in a statement later on Thursday, which added that 57 of the injured had already been released after receiving medical treatment. All of the survivors are in a stable condition.

One witness, talking to Saudi TV, said that an electrical fault appeared to have sparked the fire, though authorities have yet to confirm that. Photos released by the state-run Saudi Press Agency showed that the blaze had badly damaged some of the rooms in the hospital.

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