afrol News, 6 February - More than 16 babies in the intensive care unit at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH), have narrowly escaped death after the Hospital was gutted by fire Wednesday night., a government official said.

The official said the incident which occurred at about 9:30 pm, caught nurses in the hospital night shift duty off guard, saying it was noticed after it had already destroyed some of the equipment in the children's care centre building.

According to the Acting Chief Medical Director of the Hospital, Dr Micheal Ibadin, the fire outbreak was attributed to power surge, which completely razed the entire unit, including the adjoining labour wards.

Dr Ibadin said no life was lost to the inferno, adding that the fire was noticed at about 9.30p.m. from the end of the Special Care Baby Unit of the Hospital immediately after the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) restored power.

"Because of the incident, we have relocated the Labour ward because the damage was extensive. However, we were able to recover most of the equipment and no life was lost," he said.

He stated that hospital management has committed to putting up the facilities back on track because of their importance to the people. "We do not want to keep them off use now. We are talking about a place that occupies 34 babies," he said. A hi-tech equipment centre is the only functional Special Care Baby Unit in the whole of Edo State.

Dr Ibadin said the hospital management has set up a commission of inquiry to investigate the matter, though he thinks electrical fault could have set the facility ablaze.

Report said the nurses and the student doctors who were on duty when the incident occurred were able to evacuate the new born babies.

By staff writer

© afrol News

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