Malfunctions cause of Bursa hospital blaze

In its preliminary report on the Şevket Yılmaz State Hospital, the committee of electrical, chemical and construction engineers and architects discovered malfunctions in the installation and modification of fire-detection systems in the hospital. The report was prepared to be presented to the governor’s office in the northwestern province. "There were isolation problems between the stories of the building. The modifications were done, but the installations were not harmonized with the modifications," said Necati Şahin, the head of the Bursa branch of the Construction Engineers Chamber, adding, "There are also doubts as to whether the fire-detection system was active or not."

An ongoing juridical investigation into the fire will determine the cause of the blaze, the possibility of a malfunction in the building installment and whether the faults fall under the responsibility of the hospital management or the subcontracting firms. The investigation will also look at whether the electricity blackout or the smoke caused the deaths, or if they occurred during the transfer to the hospital.