The government has set up a team to investigate the cause of the fire that gutted Kibagabaga Referral Hospital laboratory on Wednesday afternoon. Preliminary reports suggest that the fire was caused by an electric circuit. However, hospital officials said a joint team which is comprised of experts from Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB), Rwanda Energy Group (REG) and Rwanda Biomedical Centre (RBC) has been constituted to ascertain the real cause. No deaths or injuries were reported in the fire, which broke out from a laboratory room. “No one died or got injured,” said the hospital’s Director-General, Ernest Munyemana, disclosing that investigations were launched on Wednesday. However, management confirmed that some equipment including 23 desktops, 5 laptops, 12 printers, eight UPS and a router among other office tools were destroyed. Police were quick to arrive at the scene and put out the fire. Laboratory services were halted but the RBC team was quick to bring and install some equipment as plan B, Munyemana said. The hospital also brought in some equipment from Kinyinya Health Centre while some medical tests that had to be carried out for patients were taken to Kacyiru Hospital for further results. He confirmed that this was the first time the fire outbreak happened at the hospital. “The laboratory is expected to resume operations as usual, he assured.
