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Ras Al Khaimah: Medical District officials have blamed Saqr Hospital's maintenance company for the failure of its fire alarm system, saying many reminders were sent asking for the situation to be rectified. A blaze destroyed the hospital's neonatal care section on Monday.
The officials said the company failed to respond and also alleged that company technicians were not qualified to handle the fire detectors. Copies of the letters sent to the company have already been handed over to CID.
The officials said that in February, March and April several letters were sent to the company asking for necessary maintenance checks but nothing was done.
"Had the fire alarm system been working properly we would not have had to evacuate the hospital. There are automatic sprinklers in many areas of the hospital, but the fire alarm never went off," the official said.
The maintenance company executives, however, said their technicians found that the fire alarm panel had been switched off and its battery disconnected. Medical District officials however, said the panel was in a steel locked box.
The company executives also said that they performed the annual maintenance check and a recent one was carried out on January 5.
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