Three people died in a fire at a hospital near Rome between Friday December 8 and Saturday December 9, a tragedy that raised questions about the facility’s safety.
“Three people died in the fire because the fourth died an hour earlier,” the president of the Lazio region, Francesco Rocca, told reporters outside the hospital, after firefighters initially declared four people dead.
On Saturday morning, Health Minister Horacio Shilasi sent his condolences to the families of the “four elderly people who lost their lives”, lamenting a “terrible tragedy”.
Circumstances to be noted
“We hope the investigation will clarify the cause of the fire as quickly as possible,” he added in a press release on Saturday morning.
The fire broke out at 10:30pm on Friday at the San Giovanni Evangelista Hospital in Tivoli, twenty kilometers from Rome.
\ud83d\udca5\ud83c\uddee\ud83c\uddf9 Italy –
Four people died last night in a fire at the San Giovanni Evangelista hospital in Tivoli, a suburb of Rome.
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— Marto Pirlo (@martopirlo1) December 9, 2023
The rescue operation managed to evacuate around 200 people.
Patients admitted to intensive care were transferred to other hospitals in the region, while others were treated by emergency services at the nearby municipal gymnasium, the municipality of Tivoli said on Facebook.
Prime Minister Georgia Meloni said on social media
I express my deepest condolences to the families of those who died in the fire at the San Giovanni Evangelista Hospital in Tivoli and my closeness to all the victims.
— Giorgia Meloni (@GiorgiaMeloni) December 9, 2023
The tragedy evoked strong emotion in the political class and raised questions about the security of the establishment.
Officials said the prosecution has started an investigation and post-mortem examinations will be conducted to understand the circumstances of the tragedy.
According to media reports, the fire started in the basement before moving to the kitchens and upper floors.