A 74-year-old man is being questioned by Greece’s Fire Service investigators over a fire that severely damaged a ward at Sismanogleio General Hospital in Athens early on Thursday, that forced precautionary evacuation of around 70 patients.
The man was brought in by police officers and handed over to the Fire Service’s arson investigation unit after being located at his home, according to police information. Authorities are investigating whether he had any involvement in the blaze, although no conclusions have yet been announced.
Earlier, Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis said the fire appeared to have started when a mattress caught fire. He said there were no flammable materials in the ward, suggesting that the mattress had been deliberately set alight, although he stressed that the exact circumstances would be determined by the investigation.
According to the minister, the patient assigned to the bed had reported seeing “a strange dream” before realizing the bed was on fire and fleeing the scene.
Patient at the Center of the Investigation
Preliminary findings indicate that the fire started in the middle bed of a first-floor hospital room where the 74-year-old had been receiving treatment for a medical condition. Investigators say he left the hospital immediately after the incident and was later found at his home.
Two other patients were in the room when the fire broke out. One managed to leave on his own, while a nurse evacuated the second patient, who had serious health problems, by moving him out on his hospital bed.
The 74-year-old is expected to give a statement to investigators as the inquiry continues.
Minister praises hospital staff
Georgiadis praised the hospital staff for their rapid response, saying their actions helped prevent what could have been a far more serious incident.
“We were fortunate that all patients were transferred safely,” he said.
The minister stated that a nurse noticed the fire immediately after a hospital bed caught fire. He added that, based on the information available to him, there were no flammable materials in the room that could have ignited on their own.
“The patient who had been in the bed had already left. According to what I have been told by the police, he later said he had a strange dream, realized there was a fire and fled in panic,” Georgiadis said, stressing that investigators will determine exactly what happened.
He also said the hospital ward sustained extensive damage and will have to be rebuilt.
Woman suffers cardiac arrest
During the emergency, one woman suffered cardiac arrest and was among the first patients transferred out of the hospital.
Georgiadis said her medical emergency was unrelated to the fire itself.
Ward Destroyed, Patients Safely Evacuated
The fire broke out at around 5:00 a.m. in a room on the first floor of the hospital’s internal medicine department. The room was completely destroyed, but firefighters prevented the blaze from spreading to other areas of the building.
Around 70 patients were evacuated from the first and second floors as a precaution. Firefighters extinguished the blaze with 28 personnel, seven fire engines and two specialized vehicles.
One woman suffered cardiac arrest during the incident and was transferred to another hospital. The health minister said her medical emergency was unrelated to the fire.
The blaze caused extensive damage to an entire hospital ward, which authorities say will need to be rebuilt, while the Fire Service’s arson investigation unit continues to examine the incident.
