LAHORE, June 20: A fire broke out at the Angiography Laboratory of the Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC) early on Thursday, burning down small instruments worth thousands.

A good number of patients was shifted to other wards from the laboratory and the adjoining emergency. However, no human loss or injury was reported.

Witnesses said the incident caused panic among patients, attendants and on-duty doctors and made them flee the scene.

They said the fire erupted in the air-conditioner of the Angiography Lab-III. An on-duty doctor said the lab had no ventilation or exhaust system that’s why smoke spread to the emergency department and some other portions of the institute and suspended health care to patients.

He said stable patients were shifted to the open space outside the PIC and those facing health complications were rushed to other wards of the hospital. The emergency was made operational on Thursday morning at 10am, while the affected lab has yet to begin work.

The PIC administration has ordered replacement of all electric wires of the institute and banned the use of remote controls.

The Rescue 1122 Fire Service said firefighters extinguished the fire and cleared smoke from the lab in half an hour.

PIC Chief Executive Prof Bilal Zakariya said in a statement on Thursday that short-circuiting caused the fire. He said routine tests were conducted in the angiography lab, emergency and CT angiography department without any interruption. Another fire broke out in a house on Zaildar Road in Ichhra on Thursday, burning down valuables worth hundreds of thousands.

Rescue 1122 firefighters controlled the blaze the cause of which was not yet known.