Tembisa Hospital fire contained, all patients safe

The City of Ekurhuleni and Gauteng Department of Health, said the fire that engulfed the emergency and casualty ward at the Tembisa Provincial Tertiary Hospital, has been contained. The two said all 79 patients that were admitted at the ward, have since been moved to other wards. “The fire has been extinguished, everything is under control, there are no casualties as a result of the fire. The only section that was affected is the emergency section, but all the 48 patients are accounted for.The good thing is that because of the design of the hospital, the emergency and casualty ward, is separated from all other hospital wards,” said the municipality Executive Mayor, Nkosindiphile Xhakaza.According to the mayor, the cause of the fire is still being investigated, and authorities are still processing all the information they’ve received thus far. “I don’t want to give a story, without any uncertainty. We have set-up a Joint Operation Centre consisting of all the disaster management teams has been established. The area has been cordoned off, and we’ll issue proper updates once all the information has been analysed,” explained Xhakaza. He sought to allay fears to residents who have been inquiring about their loved ones, that all the patients have been accounted for. ““Tembisa is a tertiary hospital.It doesn’t only service the community of Tembisa, but service people as far as Diepsloot, and I want to assure them that all patients are safe. The department said the emergency teams are mopping up the fire after containing it and will also assess the extent of the immediate physical damage, and recounting patients that were at the affected area. “It is important to assure the public and families whose loved ones are receiving treatment at the hospital that the fire only affected the Accident and Emergency Unit, and not other wards. The Tembisa Provincial Tertiary Hospital is currently not receiving patients and will remain on divert until further notice. The public will be kept updated on any developments about the situation,” read a statement from the department.