A fire broke out at the Jaffna Teaching Hospital during the early hours of Friday, originating in the hospital’s medical warehouse, Ada Derana reported.
The blaze was extinguished jointly by the Jaffna Municipal Council Fire Brigade, hospital staff, security forces and police. No injuries have been reported, and the cause of the fire and the extent of damage to the warehouse have not been disclosed by authorities.
The Jaffna Teaching Hospital is the largest tertiary-care facility in the Northern Province and serves as the principal referral centre for Jaffna District. Damage to its medical warehouse — which typically holds drugs, consumables and equipment stocks for the hospital’s wards and outpatient services — could constrain supply chains for several Northern Province secondary hospitals that draw from it.
The Ministry of Health has not issued a statement on whether patient services or drug supplies have been affected. A formal investigation into the cause is expected to follow standard procedures for fires at government health facilities, which require both the Sri Lanka Police and the Ministry’s preventive maintenance division to inquire into electrical, storage and procedural factors.
Hospital fires are an intermittent risk in Sri Lankan teaching hospitals, where ageing infrastructure and dense in-patient layouts compound damage potential. The Jaffna facility’s medical warehouse is geographically distinct from in-patient wards, which is likely to have limited the immediate operational impact.
