A man has been charged as being responsible for a fire in one of Granada's hospitals which necessitated the evacuation of 30 patients.

The 60-year-old man is suspected of deliberately setting fire to his hospital-bed mattress around the end of last month. As a result, 30 patients on that ward had to be temporarily evacuated and an estimated 55,000 euros in damages was caused.

He allegedly used a cigarette lighter to set fire to his mattress around three o’clock in the morning. The hospital immediately alerted the emergency services.

The police, consulting with the hospital security guards, were informed that the fire had occurred on the third floor. The security guards had put the fire out using fire extinguishers available on that floor, but not before a large volume of smoke had pervaded through the ward.

When the fire service arrived, they made sure that the fire was out and ventilated the ward whilst the Police organised a temporary evacuation, using hospital staff, with the patients moved to another floor of the hospital.

During the police inspection at the scene of the fire they found both the burned mattress and the cigarette lighter used. The bed belonged to the man who has now been formally charged with arson.

(News: City & Metropolitan Area, Granada, Andalucia)

keywords: Fire, Hospital, Patients Evacuated, Arson, Mattress, Fire Lighter, Patient Charged

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