Several expectant mothers were on Saturday evening evacuated from labour wards after a fire broke out at the Kangundo Level 4 Hospital, Machakos county.
The women were rescued after adjacent isolation wards in the hospital went up in flames on Saturday afternoon.
The hospital's officer in charge of security Emmanuel Musyoka said the fire broke out at 1 pm.
Musyoka said the isolation wards were not in use during the incident. They were last utilised during the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak in 2020.
"The isolation wards were undergoing maintenance during the incident. They were not in use," Musyoka said.
He said the razed structures were located closer to children and labour wards.
The rescued women said they saw smoke emanating from the building before seeing flames.
Musyoka said the building's cealing boards were extensively damaged by the fire.
"In addition to that, beds and mattresses which were inside the wards were burnt, the fire was later contained," Musyoka said.
"There were people who were repairing the isolation wards when the fire broke out. One of the engineers informed me of the incident and I immediately took action by calling rescue teams from Machakos county," Musyoka said.
He said the hospital's staff helped in putting out the fire.
"The fire brigade found us fighting the fire. The hospital's staff helped in putting out the fire," Musyoka said.
Those who helped in containing the fire were Machakos County Government rescue teams from Matungulu subcounty.
Both value of razed property and cause of fire hadn't been established by press time.
