DAMMAM — Authorities evacuated several patients from one of the top health facilities in Dammam after a fire broke out there early Friday morning, media reports said on Saturday. The Civil Defense was notified of a fire at Dammam Medical Tower Hospital at 2.24 a.m. and several firefighting and rescue units were immediately dispatched to the scene, said Col. Mansour Al-Dosary, spokesman for the Civil Defense in the Eastern Province. The fire started at the entrance to two lecture halls in the second floor of the building and began to spread to a nearby furniture room, Col. Al-Dosary said. He said the firefighting teams were able to put out the blaze within a short time preventing it from spreading to other parts of the hospital. There were no casualties, but four people suffered from smoke inhalation and were given first aid on the spot, Col. Al-Dosary said. An investigation has been launched to find out causes of the fire, he added. The fire, which came on the heels of a major disaster at a hospital in the southern city of Jazan on Thursday, created panic among patients and hospital staff. At least 25 people were killed and 147 others injured when a fire tore through the intensive care unit and the maternity ward of the Jazan General Hospital before dawn on Thursday. The 400-bed Dammam Medical Tower is the largest referral hospital in the Eastern Province, and was built eight years ago as an alternative high-tech medical facility to the 50-year-old Dammam Central Hospital.
