No Pinoy hurt in Saudi hospital fire

MANILA, Philippines - No Filipino was reported killed in a fire that engulfed a hospital in Jizan, Saudi Arabia yesterday, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said. 

The Philippine consulate in Jeddah is in touch with the Filipino area coordinator in Jizan who was confirming whether Filipinos were among the casualties, DFA spokesman Charles Jose said.

“Initial but still unconfirmed report from Jizan is that no Filipino casualties in the fire,” he said in a text message. “Consulate is trying to confirm this report.”

The Saudi Civil Defense agency said 25 people were killed and 107 injured at the Jazan General Hospital in southern Saudi Arabia.

The blaze broke out at the intensive care unit and the maternity department of the hospital, the agency said on Twitter.

Most of the casualties are bed-ridden patients in the hospital, reports said. 

An estimated 20 Filipinos are working in that hospital, Jose said.

“Our emergency response team (eMRT) is getting ready to leave Jeddah,” he said.

The team would also check if a Filipino was killed or injured in the fire, he added. 

If air travel was unavailable yesterday, the team would travel by land to Jizan for 9-10 hours, Jose said.

Jizan is the capital of the Jizan region in southwest Saudi Arabia, immediately north of the Yemen border.