Sultan Johor, Sultan Ibrahim Almarhum Sultan Iskandar has consented to pay for the cost of repairing the women's ward of the Sultanah Aminah Hospital (HSA) here which caught fire yesterday afternoon.

Sultan Ibrahim will appoint a contractor to begin work on the repairs immediately, with the cost to be fully borne by Yayasan Sultan Ibrahim Johor (YSIJ).

"I want the director of the Public Works Department, the Johor Health Director and the director of the Johor Fire and Rescue Department to immediately discuss plans for the repairs to be conducted by the contractor.

"Usually, it takes some time for the government to conduct these repairs as there is a system to go through, and I don't blame the government, I want these repairs to be done immediately," he said in a statement which was posted on his official Facebook account today.

Yesterday, Johoreans were shocked by news of a fire which broke out in the HSA involving the Women's Ward 1 which is located not far from from the Mahmoodiah Health Clinic.

However, there were no fatalities as all 24 patients in the ward were rescued.

In October 2016, a fire broke out on the second floor of the hospital's intensive care unit (ICU) which left six dead.

-- BERNAMA