MITYANA . The staff quarters at Mityana General Hospital which went up in flames Tuesday evening had a faulty wiring system which could have ignited the fire ,police have revealed .
The Tuesday 4:30pm devastating fire which is said to have spread rapidly through the staff quarters destroyed personal belongings, including mattresses, uniforms and laptops used by hospital staff.
One of the affected medical workers said by the time residents and fire brigade team arrived, the blaze had already spread to the entire building and the roof had already carved in .
According to Wamala Regional Police spokesperson , Racheal Kawala , their preliminary investigations revealed that the wiring system at the staff quarters was too old .
“We were informed about the incident and our fire brigade response team immediately responded to the scene and put out the fire.
It has been established that the building is fully installed with electricity but it also had old wires and the fire is suspected to have started from the same old wiring” she said in a statement
Preliminary police findings indicate that the fire broke out at the old maternity building of Mityana general hospital. The building was being used as accommodation for hospital critical staff but also used as a store for old fridges and mattresses.
Police preliminary findings further reveal that the victims have been using a wide range of electrical appliances including coils, flat iron among others.
However, part of the building was being used as a store for old scrap including old fridges, mattresses and that’s where the fire started from, according to Kawala
“Findings indicate that almost all property was burnt to ashes and these include unspecified amount of money, beddings, tvs, utensils, old fridges, laptops among others. Investigations are still underway,”
With the help of residents, the fire brigade team tried to put out the fire, but it was late. It was not yet clear how many health workers were residing in the ill-fated building.
The destroyed building had been housing about 25 health workers –some of whom intern nurses ,but at the time of the fire only two people were believed to be inside ,but no person has been injured.
Mr Fred Wotonava, the mayor of Mityana Central Division, said the incident has disrupted the operations of health workers and this could temporarily affect service delivery at the facility. “I ask the Ministry of Health and the Office of Prime Minister to swiftly intervene and help the affected health workers ,if they have lost everything including uniforms it might be difficult for them to attend to patients ” he said
By press time, the hospital management was looking for alternative shelter where to relocate the affected staff as they mobilise humanitarian support to reconstruct the damaged building.