A fire at a hospital in western Germany late on Thursday night injured 28 people, five of them seriously, according to local police.

The fire broke out in a patient’s room in the hospital in Hemer, about 30 kilometres southeast of Dortmund.

Staff quickly began evacuating other patients from the hospital, according to a police spokeswoman.

According to initial findings, the five seriously injured people suffered smoke inhalation but no burns.

Four seriously injured people were transferred to other hospitals for treatment, while one injured person was treated in the intensive care unit of the hospital itself, according to a spokesman for the fire brigade.

Among the injured are patients and employees.

The portion of the building where the fire broke out is no longer useable, the police spokeswoman said.

Criminal investigators from the local police took over the investigation into the cause of the fire.

(dpa/NAN)