The authorities of the Korle-bu Teaching hospital have denied reports circulating on social media indicating that the hospital’s maternity ward was on fire.
According to a statement signed and released by the hospital’s Head of Public Relations, Mustapha Salifu indicated that the decision to evacuate babies from the maternity block of the hospital was just a precautionary measure taken after smoke was detected from a faulty air conditioner.
“What happened was an air-conditioner switch in one of the restrooms of the doctors started emitting smoke which was detected by staff on duty at around 9pm yesterday. The staff on duty quickly used fire extinguishers to put out the fire before the arrival of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS). As a precautionary measure, some of the babies were moved to another wing of the same floor,” portions of the statement read.
“We wish to state that no patient or staff suffered any casualties or injury. Normal operations have resumed after assessment by the Ghana National Fire Service indicated there was no further threat of danger to either patients or staff.
“We wish to commend the staff on duty for their alertness and professionalism”, Mustapha Salifu stated.
It will be recalled that there was a viral video circulating on social media indicating that there was fire outbreak at Korle-bu Teaching hospital, maternity unit.
According to the narration on the video, the staff of the hospital were trying their best to evacuate the babies from the ward.
According to sources, the fire outbreak was believed to have started around 1am on Wednesday 7th April 2021. The narrator said, “we have called on the fire service to rush here to secure the place but they are not picking”.
BY Prince Fiifi Yorke