MORE than 30 patients were on Tuesday evacuated from Kabwe Mine Hospital to Kabwe General Hospital after fire swept through the hospital laundry section and part of the office block.
The 35 were evacuated to Kabwe General Hospital after the fire which is believed to have started from the laundry unit spread to the office block which also houses some wards.
The inferno which started at 19:00 hours is suspected to have been caused by an electrical fault.
And Central Province Minister Obvious Mwaliteta who rushed to the scene with other Government officials watched helplessly as the fire brigade struggled to put out the fire.
He appealed to the Ministry of Local Government and Housing to seriously consider coming to the aid of the council fire brigade.
”We cannot allow a situation where the town continues to lose properties simply because our fire brigade has no capacity to handle fire,” he said.
He paid tribute to the Zambia Army for providing a water bowser which was connected to the fire engine.
A check at the the laundry and office block found that the equipment had been destroyed completely, while some Zesco technicians were trying to establish the cause of the fire. Two days ago, another fire swept through a kitchen at Brimas Restaurant destroying goods worth K200,000.
A week ago, an inferno swept through Zambia the Railways Limited (ZRL) canteen which also houses the technical drawing department .