Fire hit Rumphi District Hospital on Saturday afternoon, destroying a substantial amount of drugs.
Rumphi Hospital as well as Rumphi District Council have no firefighting equipment and community members were the first responders as they battled to save lives, drugs and other medical equipment after fire started in the pharmacy. The first responders evacuated patients from their wards to protect them from the fire and used buckets to fight the fire
Later, fire vehicle arrived from Mzuzu City, 70 kilometres away from Rumphi, and managed to help put out the inferno.
“So far we have not valued the extent of the loss but a substantial amount of drugs have been destroyed,” said District Commissioner for Rumphi, Emmanuel Bulukutu.
He added that investigations are underway to establish the cause of the fire accident.
Earlier this week, Fire also destroyed items worth millions at shop in Lilongwe. Another fire incident this week also occurred at Malawi Fertilizer Company where two trucks and bags of fertilizer were destroyed.
