MITYANA . A section of health workers at Mityana General Hospital were on Tuesday evening left devastated after a mysterious fire gutted the staff quarters.
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 .
“The fire was moving very fast and by the time we noticed, it had already engulfed the entire block, we tried using water and sand before the fire engines arrived, but it was too strong to contain .” she said
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.
By Tuesday evening, police in Wamala Region was yet to issue a statement about the incident, but health workers suspect the fire could have been caused by an electrical short circuit.
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.