A patient has been detained as the prime suspect in a fire that broke out at dawn inside the Sismanoglio Hospital in northern Athens.
Firefighters identified the 74-year-old man who was a patient in the room where the blaze started at around 5 a.m. this morning. He was allegedly smoking, despite repeated requests to stop.
As soon as the fire broke out, he put on his clothes and left the hospital but was later located at his home and detained by police.
There were two other patients in the same room, one of whom left on his own, while the second was wheeled out by a nurse, ensuring no one was injured.
The Fire Department said in a press release the blaze destroyed the room but was stopped before it spread to other rooms. During the operation, 35 patients were evacuated from the first floor and 35 from the second, as a precaution.
