The Gauteng Department of Health has revealed that all the patients affected by the fire at Tembisa Provincial Tertiary Hospital have been safely evacuated.
Image: Picture: Dimpho Maja/African News Agency(ANA).
As mop up operations have ensued at the Tembisa Provincial Tertiary Hospital (TPTH) following a fire incident which torched parts of the hospital on Saturday afternoon, the Gauteng Department of Health has indicated that the facility will not be receiving any patients and will remain on divert until further notice.
The fire broke out at the hospital’s Accident and Emergency Unit on Saturday afternoon.
Head of Department, Lesiba Malotana gave an update on the incident which affected the parts of the accident and emergency unit of the hospital, saying the Gauteng health department has put in place contingency plans to ensure emergency services continue to be available to the community during the unit’s closure.
Malotana also reassured the public that the rest of the hospital remained fully operational while all the patients have been accounted for.
"All other areas of the hospital remain functional and operational. Those who have family members in the hospital must rest assured that their family members are not in any danger and have been taken care of."
Reacting to the blaze, Ekurhuleni Mayor, Nkosindiphile Xhakaza commended the rescue teams while indicating that the situation remains promising as there were no casualties reported, adding that at least 85 individuals — 79 patients and six staff were evacuated to nearby healthcare facilities.
“So far, everything is looking good. We have set up a joint operation center with all our disaster management teams and Gauteng teams. What we can confirm is that the fire has been extinguished and everything is under control; there are no casualties. There’s nobody who’s injured as a result of the fire. The only section that was affected is the emergency section, but all the patients that were there are all accounted for, and we will get updates.
“At this stage, preliminary data is coming through; once it’s processed, we will be able to communicate,” he said.
Malotana revealed that the firefighters from the City of Ekurhuleni, alongside Gauteng EMS teams, worked overnight to contain the blaze and managed to assess the extent of the damage while also ensuring that all individuals in the affected areas were accounted for.
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