Updated Monday 6am

Patients were evacuated from the Gozo Hospital on Sunday evening when a fire started in an IT room and smoke spread to different wards.

The fire was immediately brought under control by the Civil Protection Department and patients were returned to the hospital after midnight. No one was injured.

A spokesperson for Steward Healthcare told Times of Malta the blaze broke out at around 9pm, and 59 patients had been evacuated. The Civil Protection Department deployed five fire-tenders.

Steward Healthcare said the fire broke out in the IT room of one of the hospital wards. It was contained within this room and was controlled and extinguished rapidly by firemen of the Civil Protection Department.

However, smoke spread to a number of wards and rooms in the adjacent areas and hospital corridors.

"All patients in the male and female wards were immediately evacuated and safely transferred to the hospital’s Outpatients Department and to the Barts Medical School within the hospital campus," Steward said.

No one was injured and all people were accounted for but the evacuation meant the patients had to be moved, in their beds, outside.

The patients were returned to the hospital wards after midnight.

In a statement, Steward Healthcare said this was done after hospital professionals ascertained that it was safe to do so for both patients and staff members.

It thanked its staff members and the hospital’s Emergency Response Team, which it said immediately activated its contingency plans.

"A big thanks goes to emergency teams including the CPD, Fire Department and Police forces for their prompt response on site."

During the evacuation, the minister for the elderly, JoEtienne Abela, had said in a Facebook post that he was in constant contact with the hospital administration and closely following the situation. He thanked all workers and firemen for their work. 

Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri wrote that he was at the hospital, where the blaze had been extinguished.