Release 2016 Sultanah Aminah Hospital fire inquiry report – Galen Centre
KUALA LUMPUR: The independent inquiry report into the 2016 fire at Sultanah Aminah Hospital in Johor Baru should be made public, as families of the six victims continue to seek answers a decade after the tragedy.
The independent inquiry report into the 2016 fire at Sultanah Aminah Hospital in Johor Baru, which killed six patients, has yet to be made public despite previous government commitments, according to Azrul Mohd Khalib, the chief executive of the Galen Centre for Health and Social Policy. The report, completed in 2018 and declassified in October 2019, has been withheld, primarily due to settled civil suits involving the victims' families, a situation that no longer applies since 2025.
The report, chaired by former Court of Appeal judge Mohd Hishamudin Yunus, highlighted serious deficiencies in fire safety preparedness, staff training, emergency evacuation procedures, equipment, and institutional oversight. Azrul argues that the findings are crucial for understanding the safety of patients and healthcare workers across the public healthcare system and should have spurred improvements in hospital fire safety and emergency preparedness.
He urges the Health Ministry to release the full report and disclose which recommendations have been implemented, which remain outstanding, and the measures taken to enhance patient and staff safety in government hospitals.
Brief written by urgent.news from New Straits Times's own syndicated text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
