31 dead, 100 injured in fire at Saudi hospital

Riyadh

: At least 31 people were killed and 100 injured in a fire at a hospital in southern Saudi Arabia on Thursday, the civil defence agency said.

Saudi Civil Defense spokesman Maj. Yahya bin Abdullah al-Qahtani says the cause of the blaze remains unknown. It broke out in the early hours of Thursday around the hospital's intensive care, maternity and neonatal care wards.

In its latest tweet, the civil defence announced that the "Jazan hospital accident is now over and investigation is underway to find out its reasons."

It said that 21 civil defence teams had assisted in putting out the blaze.

In August, 10 people were killed and 259 wounded in a fire at a residential complex rented by oil giant Saudi Aramco in the kingdom's Eastern Province.

That fire was ignited by an electric short circuit in the underground parking where 130 cars were parked, the civil defence agency had said.