Hospital Catches Fire Again Despite Warning From Journalist Who Claims It Operated Without a Fire Cert

By Karissa Lund  •  29 Jun 2020 in News

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Yesterday, a fire broke out at the female ward at the Sultanah Aminah Hospital (HSA) in Johor Bahru.

According to The Star, Johor Fire and Rescue Department director Datuk Yahaya Madis said that the department received a distress call regarding the incident at 3.08pm on Sunday 28 June and deployed 42 personnel to the location.

“The fire involved the oxygen panel, vacuum, call bell and a switch at the number five patient bed. There were 24 patients in the ward that were evacuated by hospital personnel. Hospital personnel tried to put out the fire using a dry powder fire extinguisher but failed,” he said in a statement.

He added that the situation was fully under control at 3.29 pm and there were no casualties.

This isn’t the first time the hospital caught on fire. In 2016, a blaze at the same hospital killed six patients and injured four others. The horrific incident is also known as the worst hospital fire in Malaysia.

Just before the incident yesterday, CodeBlue editor-in-chief Boo Su-Lyn released a statement on Twitter stating that she will be interviewed by the police at Putrajaya on 26 June.

She said that she is being investigated over four articles regarding the declassified HSA fire investigation that revealed the hospital had operated for years without a fire certificate despite numerous fires breaking out since 2008.

Su-Lyn stated that the articles were written as a matter of public interest, especially on the issue of fire safety at healthcare facilities and found the police investigations a distraction from the grave points of concern stated in the report.

“The government should release to the public the full report by the independent investigation into the 2016 fire at HSA, which had been commissioned by the government itself. This was one of the recommendations by the inquiry… Their (fire victims) families deserve to know the truth,” Su-Lyn said.

I am being investigated under the Penal Code & Official Secrets Act over my articles on the declassified findings of the independent investigation into the 2016 fire at Hospital Sultanah Aminah that killed 6 patients. Police are interviewing me at 2pm today at IPD Putrajaya. pic.twitter.com/jUkfdQwCWV

— Boo Su-Lyn (@boosulyn) June 26, 2020

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