Monrovia,Liberia-The Benson Hospital in Paynesville was on Tuesday Morning gutted by Fire that destroyed several valuable.
By Nyantee Togba-www.nyanteetogba@gmail.com
According to eyewitnesses, the fire incident started from the top floor of the three-storey building, around 9 O’clock in the Morning, destroying several important items of the hospital, including the roof of the building, computers and other things.
The fire is said to have started immediately after the Liberia Electricity Corporation turned off electricity supply to the facility.
There have been no injury reported so far, and a OK Communications reporter on the scene inquired from staffs that all the patients were safely evacuated while the fire spread.
The quenching of the fire was made possible by residents around the hospital after the failure of the firefighter to appear on the scene on time.
Hundreds of onlookers steered in disbelief as the fire intensified, consuming the roof of the building.
Hundreds of young men then joined together to partially put off the blaze. They were seen throwing sachets of water at the fire.
Madam Susan Swen, a nurse aid who was at the scene when the fire started told reporters that immediately the fire incidents, patients in the hospital were evacuated urgently from the building to another health facility.
Meanwhile, several residents during the fire incident stoned the fire truck of the Liberia National Police on grounds that it arrived late to quench the fire.
One of the staff said the damage wouldn’t have worsened had the fire service arrived within 30 minutes after the call was placed to them.
It is unclear how the fire started, but one doctor who asked not to be named said it might have been a result of an electrical fault.
Benson Hospital is a major public health facility providing free medical services to residents within its densely populated catchment.
“The problem now is that all of our things we use, the documents and medicine are all up there finished burning,” said a staff.
He added that it will be “very dangerous” for the communities seeking health care at the hospital if the facility is not back on track soon.
“We see many patients here and 90% of those patients will be seriously affected if the hospital does not resume operations the soonest.”
Following the incident, Alex Dickson, Director of the Liberia National Fire Service, who regretted the incident, blamed the failure of fire fighters to arrive on the scene of fire incident to the lack of adequate budgetary allotments.
