A shocking medical incident has unfolded in Athens, Greece, where a 72-year-old woman caught fire during surgery at Alexandra General Hospital. The patient, who was undergoing a scheduled operation, sustained second-degree burns to her chest and torso. She is currently in stable condition and being treated by a plastic surgeon at the same hospital.
The fire reportedly broke out near the end of the procedure due to a suspected malfunction in a piece of electrosurgical equipment known as a diathermy unit—commonly used to cauterize blood vessels during surgery. Initial findings suggest that a spark from the device may have ignited a fire in the operating room.
Greek media report that doctors and nurses responded immediately, extinguishing the flames before the situation turned fatal. “The doctors acted quickly and saved her life. Had they not, the patient would have died,” said Michalis Giannakos, president of Greece’s public hospital workers’ union, POEDIN, in an interview on national television. He also questioned how such a critical medical device could fail so catastrophically.
The incident has triggered multiple investigations. The outgoing director of Alexandra Hospital, Dimitra Pappa, ordered an urgent internal inquiry, while the country’s First Regional Health Authority launched a formal administrative investigation to determine whether human error or equipment negligence played a role.
Greek Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis publicly apologized, calling the event “unacceptable” and announcing a full-scale inquiry led by an independent medical expert. “I wish the patient a speedy recovery. I apologize to her and her family, and I promise the incident will be fully investigated and those responsible will be held accountable,” he said in a social media statement.
According to a formal release from health authorities, the surgical team acted swiftly once the fire broke out, and the patient was stabilized and transferred to recovery, where she remains under observation by a multidisciplinary medical team.
