Shock has followed an incident early Thursday morning (July 9) at Sismanoglio Hospital in Marousi, Athens, where a 76-year-old patient deliberately set fire to the mattress of his hospital bed in the First Internal Medicine Clinic.
The flames completely destroyed the hospital room, while three departments were evacuated as a precaution. Nurses attempted to contain the fire using fire extinguishers until firefighters arrived. The blaze broke out in room No. 8 of the First Internal Medicine Clinic at Sismanoglio Hospital, shortly before dawn. Of the room’s three beds, photographs show that only the metal frames remained.
The fire broke out shortly before 5:00 a.m. and was noticed by the nurses on duty. According to initial information, it started from the middle bed, where the 76-year-old was being treated alongside two other patients. An alarm was immediately raised, and three hospital departments were evacuated as a precautionary measure. During the process of counting patients, staff discovered that one hospitalized person was missing, prompting authorities to launch a search.
Officers from the Greek motorcycle police unit searched for the 76-year-old at three different addresses. The man was eventually located in an apartment building in Nea Filadelfeia, a suburb of Athens, where he was arrested.
The 76-year-old’s statement
In his statement, the 76-year-old allegedly said: “I took my lighter and set fire to the mattress. I did it because I felt under pressure. I apologize. I regret what I did.”
The man had left the hospital immediately after the incident but was located and arrested a few hours later.
