Hospital inferno destroys two-storey building

A blaze last night destroyed a two-storey Southland Hospital building housing the laundry.

Eight fire trucks and 35 firefighters rushed to the inferno in Invercargill just before 10 o'clock.

The building was not connected to the main hospital, but Newstalk ZB reported a nearby building housing junior doctors was evacuated.

Firefighters had the blaze under control by 11.30pm. "We managed to save a dangerous goods store near the fire but the laundry is a total loss," said Invercargill fire chief Morris Robertson.

Fire investigators are yet to determine what caused the fire.