25 killed, over 100 injured in Saudi hospital fire

24 December 2015 08:54 am

An overnight fire at a hospital in southern Saudi Arabia had killed at least 25 people and injured more than 100 others, the BBC reported a short while ago.

The blaze had broken out in the intensive care and maternity departments of the Jazan General Hospital, the Civil Defence Agency tweeted.

The fire is now over and those injured have been transferred to other hospitals in the area, it added.

An investigation is under way to find out the cause of the blaze. Some 21 civil defence teams helped extinguish the fire, according to the agency.

Photographs published in Saudi daily Okaz showed rooms inside the hospital charred deep black, debris hanging from the ceiling.

Jazan is near the border with Yemen, which has seen months of fighting between Houthi rebels and Saudi-backed forces.