The fire broke out in a wing of the hospital that housed dozens of patients
A hospital patient was found dead early Wednesday morning after a fire broke out overnight on the fourth floor of Soroka hospital in Beersheva. Two other patients admitted to hospital with respiratory illnesses also suffered minor injuries from smoke inhalation, and around 25 others, many with oxygen tanks, were evacuated by firefighters and rescue services.
“I was standing in the corridor and suddenly I heard a patient screaming, help, help. I went closer and saw a man on fire, like in the movies. I asked to bring a fire extinguisher and we tried to put out the fire that had hired this patient,” a hospital employee said. A report of the fire was received at 3:23 am by the Israeli fire and rescue services and several teams were dispatched to the scene. The fire was quickly put out.
An investigation into the incident was opened by the Southern District Fire and Rescue Services. According to initial reports, the fire was caused by a lit cigarette, Israeli media reported Wednesday morning.
The fire at Soroka hospital is not the first such incident in recent months. In September, a fire broke out at the Schneider Children’s Hospital in Petach Tikva (middle), probably caused by a short circuit. No injuries were reported. Earlier this year, in April, two people were injured in a fire at Sheba hospital near Tel Aviv. The fire was determined to have been started by an improperly extinguished cigarette butt.
