A cancer patient died after a fire broke out at the National Taiwan University Hospital while he was undergoing surgery, the hospital said yesterday.
The man, suffering from esophageal cancer, was one of two patients being operated on when a fire broke out at around 7:22pm on Wednesday in the operating room on the fourth floor of the hospital’s new building, the hospital said.
The automatic sprinkler system was activated after the fire started, but smoke continued to bellow into the operating theaters where six surgeons and five nurses were performing surgery on the patient and another patient suffering from heart disease.
Both patients were under general anesthetic at the time.
The cancer patient was rushed to the intensive care ward of the hospital and urgently fitted with an ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) device, which is similar to a heart-lung machine, but he died just after midnight, the hospital said.
The 11 medical professionals and the other patient suffered various degrees of smoke inhalation. All were in a stable condition after receiving treatment, the hospital said.
The hospital evacuated 800 patients and urgently arranged hospital transfers for 23 patients who had to rely on respirators.
The fire was put out at 9:10pm.
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