Fire hits PGH main building

MANILA, Philippines — Dozens of patients were evacuated after a fire broke out at the main building of the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) in Manila yesterday.

Patients from the PGH cancer ward were among those evacuated.

Thirteen firetrucks responded to contain the blaze, which reached second alarm at 3:11 p.m.

PGH workers as well as students and employees of the University of the Philippines (UP)-Manila were also evacuated.

In a report, the Bureau of Fire Protection said wards 1 and 3 of the PGH’s outpatient department were gutted by the fire.

Manila Fire Department head Senior Supt. Christine Doctor-Cula declared the fire under control at around 3:45 p.m.

The UP Office of the Student Regent appealed for donations of valve masks and oxygen tanks to be given to intubated patients who were transferred to the PGH Atrium.

Classes at UP Manila’s College of Arts and Sciences were suspended.

The Department of Health (DOH)ordered the transfer of PGH patients to government hospitals after the fire.

“All DOH hospitals have been alerted and are ready to accommodate the patients,” the agency said in a statement.