Woman in labour rescued from burning maternity ward – PHOTOS
A woman in labour nearly died at Saba Saba Health Centre, in Murang’a County, on Wednesday evening after a fire broke out in the maternity wing.
The woman was waiting to deliver when the fire started but was rescued by boda boda operators who responded to the incident.
She was transferred to Maragua Level Four Hospital.
“The woman had just been rescued from the burning building. I organized for her transport to Maragua where she was received and admitted,” said Kahumbo MCA Eric Kamande.
Another woman who had just delivered also escaped unhurt and was allowed to go home.
The boda boda operators accused the county fire brigade of arriving an hour late, saying more hospital equipment destroyed by the fire would have been salvaged.
“If you were here an hour ago, a lot of the property that has been reduced to ashes would have been salvaged,” one of the operators lashed out.
A resident, Jane Wambu,i said the men who responded helped contain the fire as it was spreading fast.
“We noticed smoke coming from the roof and started screaming. Boda boda operators really worked hard to contain the fire and stop it from spreading to other units,” she said.
The fire fighters however explained that they were at another scene retrieving the body of boy who had drown in a dam when they were alerted of the fire.
Property worth nearly Sh3 million, including a resuscitator worth Sh1.4 million, was destroyed. Also destroyed in the inferno was a delivery bed, antiretroviral and tuberculosis drugs as well as patients files.
Chief Officer for Health Joseph Mbai said the cause of the fire is unknown but suspected that an electrical fault could have started it.
“The process of restoring services at the facility will begin immediately. The health centre serves so many residents and we would not like to see them suffer,” he said.
Staff at the health centre declined to speak to the media.
