Thieves have broken into Zambia’s only cancer disease hospital stealing computer equipment and potentially putting lives at risk.

Theft of the equipment could result in several deaths, as the hospital cannot function without the computer system.

But the Ministry of Health has said that operations could return to normal soon, as a few stolen computer devices belonging to the hospital have been recovered by police. More than four suspects have also been arrested.

Ministry of Health spokesperson, Dr. Kamoto Mbewe, said so far only five monitors, three computer controlling towers and two keyboards have been recovered.

“Some devices including three computer keyboards and three computer mine are still missing in addition to cables that were extensively vandalised,” Mbewe.

He said the cables that connect to CT scan equipment were extensively damaged. He further added that the licence for the CT software is still missing, adding that it may take some time to restore the scan service.