Investigation begins into Limerick hospital fire

Investigations are under way into the cause of a fire at Limerick University hospital yesterday evening.

It is understood the blaze broke out in a plant room at the back of the hospital at around 6.30pm.

No one was injured in the incident, however smoke is believed to have entered the paediatric unit and several patients have been relocated inside the hospital.

"Immediately, the hospital decided to evacuate nearby 14 children and the paediatric area and they were moved to another part of the hospital," Eugene Phelan, Editor of the Limerick Leader, said in describing the evacuation plan.

"Members of the public were also asked to leave, and visitors were asked to leave the premises.

"So you had a situation where you had a few hundred people outside the hospital as fire brigades rushed from all over Limerick."