Patients evacuated in hospital fire

The fire, which started at 8.30am in the cardiac wing of the London children's hospital, ignited a gas cylinder which then exploded.

Forty patients were evacuated from the hospital and gathered with staff and members of the public outside as the hospital was completely closed down.

Four firefighters suffered minor injuries while tackling the blaze, after six fire engines and around 30 firefighters were sent to the hospital.

The hospital's chief executive, Dr Jane Collins, said no one was thought to have been injured.

She told reporters: "We obviously put our major incident plan into action very quickly and evacuated all of the patients and staff from that block. This incident may mean our cardiac wing may have to remain closed for a while."

It was initially believed that patients who required more serious treatment would have to be transferred to the Brompton Hospital and Guy's Hospital but the hospital confirmed that it was no longer planning to transfer patients.

Dr Collins said patients arriving for treatment were sent home, and in-patients were moved to other parts of the hospital as the cardiac wing was completely closed down.

She added: "There were some children who were due to have surgery this morning so they were already in the process of being anaesthetised. We had to wake these patients up because we wanted to make sure they are in a stable and safe situation."

The London Fire Brigade said: "The cause of the fire is still part of an ongoing investigation. Every part of the hospital apart from the affected ward has been reopened."