Fire at Malawi’s Mwaiwathu Hospital, patients removed from wards
There was mayhem at Mwaiwathu Private Hospital in Blantyre when its kitchen went up in flames Monday morning.
Workers had to hurriedly take out patients from their sick beds as a precautionary measure while struggling to put out the fire.
According to a guard who witnessed the incident but refused to be named, the fire started just after 04:00hours from the kitchen.
“I saw some strange smoke coming out of the kitchen room and I immediately alerted some members of staff who were on duty.
“We mobilized and tried to extinguish it but we could not easily until the fire brigade from the Blantyre City Council arrived on the scene about an hour later,” said the guard.
While others were busy trying to put out the fire, authorities issued a directive that patients be removed from the wards in case the fire spread to other areas.
Luckily, the fire was successfully controlled without affecting other areas of the health facility and the patients were similarly taken back to their beds.
Hospital Services Manager for Mwaiwathu, Guy Banda confirmed the incident saying the fire started in the kitchen after a deep flier got burnt.
He, however, commended the hospital’s members of staff on duty for being on high alert in stopping further spread of the fire to other sections.
“The workers were very vigilant in putting out the fire. It took a bit of time but it was successfully put out,” he said.
The somewhat new Mwaiwathu Hospital is one of the few expensive but reliable private hospitals in Malawi.
