Hospital Sultanah Aminah fire believed to have started from ICU treatment room

Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam said it was also believed that the blaze was not easy to put out and was spreading too fast due to the presence breathing apparatus which contained oxygen gas that had been used by patients in the ICU.

"Efforts to save all patients were made. Since the fire spread too fast, some staff who were on duty suffered from difficulty in breathing and some fainted due to thick smoke," he told a press conference here today.

Dr Subramaniam said the ministry would wait for a full report from the Fire and Rescue Department before taking further action.

Meanwhile, in a statement earlier, he said the ministry would get to the bottom of the tragedy by appointing a special committee comprising the relavant agencies and team of experts.

"We've been informed that the rapid spread of the fire and huge columns of smoke had hindered the rescue efforts," Dr Subramaniam said.

The six people who perished in the fire that broke out just before 9am today were all ICU patients. The seventh patient was rescued.

At the press conference, Dr Subramaniam said that he hoped that the victims' families and their next-of-kin would remain strong despite the tragedy.

At the same time, he had instructed the hospital's staff to render any kind of assistance needed by the families of the victims.

"As an institution that provides healthcare to patients, we're certainly very saddened by this incident. We're asking the public not to speculate about the cause of the fire," he said.