Patients’ lives were put at risk yesterday, according to staff at the Metaxa Hospital in Piraeus, which lost power for more than three hours after an electricity substation at the site caught fire and the backup generators failed.

Employees said that four patients were undergoing therapy and another six were in the intensive-care unit when the blackout occurred at about noon.

Staff fired up the generators after the substation fire broke out but it appears that the two electricity sources supply power to the hospital via the same cable, which was burned in the fire.

Power was restored to the hospital at around 3.30 p.m.

Doctors did not report any problems with their patients as a result of the blackout.

Workers said an electrical engineer had been posted at the hospital until April 2005 when an outside contractor took over the maintenance work.