LONDON: A fire broke out early on Monday in one of Britain’s biggest children’s hospitals, injuring four firefighters and forcing the hospital’s cardiac wing to evacuate.

The fire began on the fifth floor in the Great Ormond Street Hospital’s cardiac wing. Two dozen patients were evacuated to other parts of the hospital. No patients or staff were injured, the hospital said. The firefighters were transported to another hospital, and the fire was under control by late morning.

A gas cylinder is suspected to have been involved in the fire, although the exact cause of the blaze was under investigation.

Patients scheduled for outpatient procedures on Monday were sent home and non-urgent surgeries were canceled but were expected to resume on Tuesday. The hospital was founded in 1852 as the Hospital for Sick Children, making it the first hospital providing beds specifically for children in the English-speaking world.—AP