COVID Patient Starts Hospital Fire To Escape Treatment
Spanish police have arrested a 63-year-old man for starting a fire at the hospital where he was being treated for COVID-19 in an attempt to escape.
The incident occurred at Hospital Universitario Puerta del Mar in the resort city of Cadiz in the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia yesterday 10th February.
According to El Mundo newspaper, an unnamed 63-year-old man with mental health problems spread hydroalcoholic gel on his bed and lit it ablaze causing a large fire which forced people from two floors to be evacuated.
The videos show different angles of the blaze which is seen raging out of the window of the medical centre as witnesses film from the ground and across the street.
The remaining videos show the damage done to the hospital wing located on the sixth floor as firefighters continue to work in the area which was designated for COVID-19 patients.
El Mundo said the police detained the 63-year-old patient on the seventh floor of the hospital shortly after the fire was reported.
The suspect is believed to have started the fire in an attempt to escape after insisting he wanted to be discharged from the hospital.
The blaze destroyed two hospital rooms which were near where it started but fortunately left no fatal or injured victims.
The delegate from the Regional Government of Andalusia in Cadiz, Ana Mestre, said the fire was now contained but firefighters are continuing their work securing the area.
She added all patients who had to be moved were relocated within the same hospital but a floor in the Hospital Militar de San Carlos in Cadiz has been prepared for them just in case.
It is unclear if the suspect has been formally charged.