The cause of an oxygen cylinder explosion at Leratong Hospital in the West Rand on Tuesday is being investigated, the Gauteng health department said.
Spokesman Simon Zwane said the company Afrox that supplied the cylinder had dispatched an engineer for this purpose.
The cylinder exploded at Ward 14 around 9am. About 40 patients were evacuated to other wards. No one was injured. The ward was fully functioning and no serious damage was reported.
Zwane said the explosion was not caused by maintenance backlog.
DA MPL Jack Bloom had said in a statement that it needed to be known whether the backlog was the cause of the explosion, with suppliers reportedly not servicing equipment due to non-payment. - Sapa