A fire broke out overnight Wednesday in the cardiac surgery department on the fifth floor of Schneider Children’s Hospital in Petach Tikvah.

Eight children on respirators were safely evacuated to the hospital’s emergency area and several premature babies were evacuated to a nearby ward along with the rest of the hospitalized children.

B’Chasdei Shamayim, no one was injured but the ward and valuable equipment sustained damage, both from the fire and the water used to extinguish it.

The director of the hospital, Dr. Efrat Baron-Harlev, said in an interview with Radio 103FM: “We experienced a harrowing night. There were no medical consequences to any child, parent, or staff member. I can’t say exactly what caused the fire but from what I understood from the firefighters, it was likely due to a short circuit.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)