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Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - A large fire erupted on Monday afternoon, engulfing a large part of a hospital expansion in Amman.

Heavy smoke was seen covering the area of the Farah Hospital, in Jabal Amman, as fire and emergency cadres from the Amman Civil Defense Department worked to extinguish the fire.

CDD Press office told Ammon News over the phone that its cadres spent over three hours working to contain the fire that engulfed over 10 stories of the 13-story private hospital's expansion building.

Authorities launched an investigation to determine the cause of the blaze.

No one was injured in the blaze, CDD said, noting that the fire only caused material damage. The equipment at the hospital expansion laboratory damaged by the fire increased the density of the thick black smoke that was seen rising from the building from various parts of Amman, CDD later said on Monday.

Emergency and fire and rescue reinforcements were dispatched to the area to aid in the operations. Over 200 firefighters and 30 fire trucks worked to contain the fire.

The fire reportedly erupted in a vacant expansion wing attached to the hospital that is still under construction, CDD said, adding that no injuries were reported.

Meanwhile, authorities did not evacuate the hospital's main building, despite some patients and medical staff leaving after witnessing the heavy smoke from the blaze.

The fire also caused a major traffic jam in the vital Third Circle intersection in Jabal Amman.

Later on Monday, Prince Hussein, the Regent, checked on the CDD's efforts to control the fire at the 35,000-square-metre building, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The Crown Prince also spoke to Zeid Keilani, the hospital's owner, to check on the hospital's employees and patients, according to Petra.

CDD Director General Gen. Talal Kofahi briefed the Regent on the procedures followed by the department, noting that firefighters managed to extinguish the "huge" blaze in "record time" due to the availability of the proper equipment.

Minister of Interior Hussein Majali, Minister of Health Mjalli Mheilan, and CDD Chief Major General Talal Kofahi were also at the scene to oversee the operations.