- A significant amount of Personal Protective Equipment, and other medical equipment, was destroyed in a fire at the Carletonville Hospital.
- The essential medical equipment was stored in an old facility which was destroyed by a blaze at the hospital.
- Both the hospital and the fire department are probing the cause of the fire.
A personal protective equipment (PPE) storage facility at the Carletonville Hospital on Gauteng's West Rand has been burnt.
According to the hospital CEO, Sonwabo Lindani, the incident took place on Thursday at the old crèche building.
Lindani said the building, situated in the hospital, was used as a storage facility for PPE items, and some medical equipment intended for Anglo-Ashanti Hospital.
"There was significant damages [sic] to the items at the storage facility. We are happy that there was [sic] no staff or patient casualties caused by the fire. We have since replenished our PPE stock from our provincial warehouses," Lindani said.
Lindani said they have launched an investigation into the cause of the fire and are awaiting the outcome of the report.
Spokesperson for the Gauteng Department of Health, Kwara Kekana, said the fire has not disrupted hospital services.
"The hospital was requested by (the) Gauteng Department of Infrastructure and Development (DID) to assist with temporary storage of health equipment and linen meant for the Anglo-Ashanti Hospital during its construction phase, due to the relative proximity of the hospitals to each other.
"Most of the items in (the) storage facility were completely destroyed. A team of engineers from DID visited the site to assess the damages and the department awaits their official report.
"Furthermore, the Fire Department has already initiated investigations into the cause of the fire and a police case has been opened to also investigate all issues surrounding the cause of fire," Kekana said.
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