PUTRAJAYA, MALAYSIA: Saturday's fire at Putrajaya Hospital has left Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai red-faced.
After an hour-long visit to the hospital yesterday, Liow demanded a quick report from the hospital's engineering division and the Fire and Rescue Department on the condition of the hospital's lightning arresters.
At the start of the press conference, held immediately after his visit, Liow said the fire was caused by lightning.
"I want the report quickly because I want to know what sort of lightning arresting radius the system is equipped with. I don't know (whether it is faulty or not). We will have to find out," he said when asked if the authorities were certain the fire was due to faulty lightning arresters.
"I am eager to know because the arresters should have been able to handle lightning strikes. We have arresters all over this building but what happened to the system?
"What is the purpose of an arrester if it cannot handle lightning? Why did the lightning strike the third floor, not the fifth floor (the top-most floor)? These are my questions and they have to explain."
Liow said no other hospital in the country had caught fire after being struck by lightning.
"This is an isolated case and we will look into all angles and possibilities."
Liow said repairs would be done immediately as "we want to put patients back into the affected wards and bring services back to normal".
Lightning struck Ward 3C, which housed orthopaedic patients, at 4.10pm on Saturday.
Hospital staff evacuated all 14 patients in the ward before the ceiling collapsed.
"If not for their quick action, and that of the firemen, it would have been very serious," Liow said.
Patients at Ward 3A, 3B and 2C (paediatrics) were also evacuated, even though damage to the wards was minor.
Liow said about 50 patients were transferred to Serdang Hospital, two to Hospital Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, one to Hospital Kajang and two to private hospitals.
