A fire has broken out on Wednesday at Santa Lucía Hospital in Cartagena, centred in block five. First calls to the emergency line came at around seven twenty-five reporting smoke from the affected floors. Flames climbed from the third to the fifth floor, affecting about three rooms on each level, and the building’s outer cladding acted as a route for rapid spread. Firefighters, based four minutes away, deployed up to four crews and brought the blaze under control within the first half hour; regional aerial resources and the CEIS were made available but were not required.

Healthcare staff have played a crucial role in evacuations, alerting patients by telephone and, in several cases, removing people in their beds as smoke filled corridors. More than a hundred patients were moved to adjacent modules and the nearby Rosell Hospital while clinicians assessed individual needs; the dialysis unit continued to operate but the hospital laboratory was the most affected area and some operations were rescheduled. Ventilation work and police inspection followed once the block was cleared of smoke.

The National Police have begun enquiries and the main hypothesis is that an improperly extinguished cigarette butt started the fire. José Benítez, president of the staff committee, has criticised people who smoke on hospital terraces and warned that the façade covering increases risk. Regional president Fernando López Miras, the mayor Noelia Arroyo and the health councillor Juan José Pedreño have visited the site and praised the rapid response of firefighters and hospital teams.