Parts of Steve Biko Academic Hospital in Pretoria caught alight early morning on Monday, but there were no reports of casualties.
The Gauteng Department of Health said it “can confirm that a fire broke out at Steve Biko Academic Hospital (SBAH) in the early hours of this morning “.
The department said: “The fire which affected temporary structures at the facility was successfully put out by the SBAH hospital team, using the fire extinguishers on site.
“Thankfully, there were no patients or staff casualties.
“Eighteen patients and one corpse that were in separate temporary structures close to where the fire broke out had to be moved to other areas of the hospital as a safety precaution.”
The fire broke out around 01:20 at the Wendy house used as a temporary storage area for Covid-19 medical waste and an in-transit corpse area.
“It also affected a special temporary isolation unit and a tent used for triage (for persons under investigation),” said the department.
“The affected structures were located outside the casualty area of the hospital.
“The cause of the fire is unknown at this stage.”
