A fire broke out early on Thursday morning on the first floor of Sismanogleio General Hospital in Athens leading to evacuation of patients and probably to the death of a 90-year-old woman.
A 74-year-old patient has been detained as the main suspect for the fire. He is being accused of smoking in the room and a cigarette set the mattress on fire. He was later arrested.
The blaze erupted at around 05:00 in the morning in a room on the first floor of the hospital, where three patients were being treated.
According to the fire service, the room was completely destroyed, but the fire did not spread to other parts of the hospital.
As a precaution, about 35 patients from the first floor and another 35 from the second floor were evacuated.
Patient dies during evacuation
A 90-year-old patient (late media reported her as 83-year-old) who was taking out of her bed and was standby to be evacuated suffered a cardiac arrest and died.
Doctors immediately intubated her, but were unable to revive her.
According to initial reports, her death was linked to the stress and strain of the evacuation and not directly to smoke inhalation.
Speaking to media, her son said that she was off the oxygen and waited in the corridor for her evacuation. He added that an autopsy will shed light into the causes of his mother death and that the Fire Department is investigating the issue.
Health Minister Adonis Geordiadis who visited the hospital a couple of hours later boldly told media, “she was about to die, she was the first to be taken out of the hospital, she had no involvement in the fire.”
Main suspect
The main suspect for the fire is a 74-year-old man who was hospitalized for pathological reasonsin the middle bed of the ward where the fire started.
There were witnesses who claimed that he was occasionally smoking in the 3-bed ward.
According to media, the man left the hospitals when he realized that the mattress was on fire and went home in Nea Filadelfia suburbs of western Athens.
There he was located by police officers who transferred him to the fire Department for a testimony and his possible involvement on the blaze.
According to latest media information, the man has admitted that he “lit a cigarette and a fire broke out.” He regretted the arson and was arrested.
There were two other patients in the ward, one of whom got out on his own, while the second, who is in serious condition, was removed by a nurse with the bed, and thus no one was injured.
A total of 28 firefighters, supported by seven fire engines and two special vehicles, were deployed to extinguish the fire.
The Attica Arson Crimes Investigation Unit has been dispatched to the hospital to investigate the cause of the fire.
