KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 25 ― Firemen recovered seven people at the Sultanah Aminah Hospital in Johor Baru today after a fire broke out its highest floor.

The Fire and Rescue Department tweeted that one survived after being trapped in the hospital fire while the other six died.

Police later said the sole survivor was a man who had suffered extensive burns to 80 per cent of the body. The other six who perished were all patients at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) in their 50s. Four were women while the other two deceased were men.

Faulty wiring in the building that housed the ICU is suspected to have sparked the fire.

"As of now, as of our initial investigation, is that it’s from wiring," Southern Johor Bahru district police chief Assistant Commissioner Sulaiman Salleh told a news conference that was shown on the website of Malay daily Harian Metro.

The fire is said to have broken out about 9am. National news agency Bernama cited the senior policeman saying 294 patients and 193 hospital staff in the building were affected.

The Fire and Rescue Department deployed 10 trucks and 166 firefighters to the hospital to battle the blaze.

Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said that affected patients were being sent to the nearby Hospital Sultan Ismail.

However, Johor Health and Environment Committee chairman Datuk Ayub Rahmat told The Star Online when contacted that the authorities hoped private hospitals would offer to take in other evacuated patients as Hospital Sultan Ismail was packed.

“We will let Bomba and the police investigate the cause of the fire and we are looking into ways to accommodate the evacuated victims, as even Hospital Sultan Ismail is crowded with patients.

“Our deepest sympathies to the families and friends of the victims. We will extend our help to them in whatever way possible,” he was quoted saying from Bandung, where he is attending the fifth annual Low Carbon Asia Research Network conference.

The hospital tragedy has drawn the attention of the country’s top leaders.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak showed his concern on the fire in an immediate tweet after news broke out on it on social media and said he is awaiting the latest report on the incident.