Part of the Kumba District Hospital was reduced to ashes by fire that broke out in the early hours of Monday leaving at least four persons dead, sources have confirmed.

The dead who were patients are said to have been caught in the fire with their corpses onlater later retrieved in the morning as some patients remained stranded.

The fire broke just minutes after 1.00A.M on Monday ravaging sections of the hospital including the Male and Female surgical wards, the Nurses’ quarter as well as the Generator room.

Valuable properties were equally destroyed including at least three vehicles on the scene of the incident as the cause of the fire still remains unknown.

The fire incident is a big blow not only to the local population in Kumba but other neighbouring divisions in the South West region as the hospital serves at least three divisions.