Two patients have died, while another suffered smoke inhalation after a fire broke out at a hospital in the German city of Ludwigslust.
According to German media reports, the fire started at around 4:28 a.m. on the upper floor of the hospital’s vascular surgery ward before rapidly spreading to the building’s roof.
As a precaution, 86 patients and around 20 medical staff members were evacuated. Several patients were also transferred to other hospitals to continue receiving treatment.
Preliminary investigations indicate that the fire is believed to have been caused by a patient who lit a cigarette inside a hospital room, despite smoking being strictly prohibited throughout the facility.
Around 90 firefighters were involved in the emergency response and succeeded in bringing the blaze under control. German authorities have launched an investigation to determine the full circumstances surrounding the incident.
