JAZAN , Saudi Arabia, Dec. 24 (UPI) — A fire in the maternity and neonatal intensive care sections of a Jazan, Saudi Arabia, hospital Thursday killed at least 25 people and injured more than 100, officials said.
Saudi Arabia’s Civil Defense Directorate reported the fire broke out early Thursday morning at Jazan General Hospital. Twenty-one ambulances and fire units were dispatched to the hospital after a general emergency call. The walls of some hospital rooms were blackened by the fire, and those injured were transferred to other local hospitals.
The cause of the fire was under investigation.
The port city on the Red Sea in southwestern Saudi Arabia is several miles from the country’s border with Yemen, where Houthi rebels have fought Saudi-supported pro-government forces for the past several months.
Although there was thus far no connection between the fire and the rebellion, a rocket, fired from Yemen toward Jazan, was intercepted earlier this week.
