This is the dramatic moment hospital staff rushed to save babies in incubators during a fire, moving them into a neighbouring phone shop in Brazil.

CCTV footage shows incubators from the neonatal ICU at Hospital Geral Dr Cesar Cals being carried across to a commercial centre opposite the building in Fortaleza, on November 13.

With the help of bystanders, hospital workers reconnected the machines to a power supply. Some mothers were also moved to the commercial centre with their infants.

Further footage shows thick smoke filling the medical centre as staff quickly remove patients.

Local media reported the babies were temporarily placed inside shops at the Beco da Poeira commercial centre - directly in front of the hospital - until ambulances arrived.

Nearby residents and shopkeepers reportedly assisted the rescuers, forming a human chain while carrying stretchers and incubators.

The owner of the phone accessories shop said the babies were taken there because the interior was air-conditioned. Outside temperatures reached around 30 degrees Celsius at the time.

The fire broke out shortly before 11 am in an external area of the hospital and was brought under control by 11:30 am.

No injuries were reported. Authorities confirmed 117 babies were relocated to other hospitals.

The cause of the fire is under investigation, with early reports pointing to an electrical fault in the hospital's electricity substation.