SEOUL: At least 38 people were injured after a fire ripped through a hospital in South Korea, authorities said on Saturday.

The fire broke out at around 8:10 a.m. at a six-storey hospital in Gumi, some 200 km southeast of the capital Seoul, reports Xinhua news agency.

Thirty-eight out of 91 evacuees, including patients, suffered minor injuries such as smoke inhalation.

The patients were taken to another nearby hospital.

The fire authorities conducted several search operations inside the hospital building, but no additional casualty was confirmed.

The blaze was believed to have started outside the first floor of the hospital it spread to the upper floors along the outer wall.

Police and the fire authorities were investigating the exact cause of the incident.