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Cause of fire at Charlotte Maxeke Hospital remains unknown

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The Gauteng Health Department says the cause of the fire that broke out at the Charlotte Maxeke Hospital in Johannesburg is yet to be determined.

The fire started in the storeroom that houses medical supplies and spread to other parts of the hospital. 400 patients have been moved to other health facilities in the province and the hospital has been shut down for seven days to allow for an assessment of the situation.

Spokesperson for the Provincial Health Department Kwara Kekana says, “At this stage the City of Johannesburg firefighting team, I mean that falls within their purview (and) also other relevant authorities as well and at this stage, they’ve not been able to furnish us with that information, but I do think that it’s still early stages. It’s basically just to ensure that the fire doesn’t re-ignite. So, they’re saying they are engaged in that particular exercise at the current moment. We just had a debriefing session. They took us through some of those elements of where they are with their operations. I do think it’s a bit early for them to be able to indicate what could have been the cause of the fire, or potentially what could have accelerated it or re-ignited the fire as well.”

Earlier, Gauteng Premier David Makhura announced the temporary closing of the hospital.

Makhura says they had no choice but to close the hospital for at least a week.

“It is not an easy decision that we had to make. We must put out the fire. We must call in all the relevant support and resources to put out the fire. This fire must not get to damage the rest of the building. It has damaged the areas now, the parking area and some of the areas still have cars that are still parked in here but the fire is contained,” explained Premier Makhura.

Makhura’s speaks to journalists outside the hospital:

 

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