Sismanoglio Fire: 74-year-old patient remanded in connection with arson in ward 8
Police officers from the DIAS unit located a 74-year-old in Nea Filadelfeia who is suspected of causing the fire at Sismanoglio Hospital. Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis described the incident as "the product of criminal action".
Remanding of 74-year-old in connection with Sismanoglio fire in ward 8
Police officers from the DIAS unit located a 74-year-old patient in Nea Filadelfeia who is being investigated in connection with the fire that broke out on the first floor of Sismanoglio Hospital. According to ERT, the man was found at his home, brought to Nea Filadelfeia-Chalcedon Police Station and subsequently handed over to the Arson Crime Countermeasures Division (DAEE) of the Fire Service, which is conducting an investigation into the causes.
The 74-year-old was being treated for medical reasons in ward 8 of the First Internal Medicine Clinic, from which the fire is believed to have started. He is reported to have told nurses and police officers that he himself caused the fire because he had seen some kind of dream. He subsequently left the ward whilst the fire was spreading and a patient evacuation operation was underway in conditions of intense heat and a suffocating atmosphere.
Two other patients were being treated in the same ward. One left on his own, whilst the second, who faces serious health problems, was removed by a nurse. No one was injured.
"A misfortune – the product of apparent criminal action – whose exact circumstances remain to be established," said Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis.
The alarm was sounded shortly after five in the morning. Twenty-eight firefighters with seven vehicles responded to the hospital, along with a specialist ladder truck and an articulated vehicle.
A patient being treated in the adjacent room gave an exclusive account to Kostas Stamou and ERTnews camera crew that he woke up to the voice of a nurse shouting "fire" and within seconds the corridor had filled with thick smoke.
The Health Minister confirmed the death of an 83-year-old woman from cardiac arrest, clarifying that the incident was not connected to the fire or the evacuation operation.
Source: ERT