A strong smell at the hospital’s acute care wing was traced to a cigarette thrown into some mulch near an air intake.

Surgical and imaging services at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital were suspended temporarily this morning while the cause of the smell was investigated.

A fire crew was also called to the scene as a precaution.

A spokeswoman for the Bermuda Hospitals Board confirmed later that the smell came from smouldering mulch ignited by a discarded cigarette.

She said: “Surgical and imaging services will be returning to normal through the morning once the areas have been deemed acceptable by Employee Health Services.

“We would like to thank all staff for their management of patients through this time and apologise to patients and their families who were impacted.

“We would also like to thank the Bermuda Fire and Rescue Service who attended and assisted with putting out the small, smouldering fire.”

The spokeswoman reminded the public that smoking was not allowed at the hospital.

She added: “Not only did this incident create inconvenience and worry for people in the ACW, but it is illegal to be smoking anywhere on our property.

“We will be reviewing video and working with the police if the person can be identified.”

• UPDATE: this article was updated with the latest information from the BHB