Home » Iraq, hospital fire in a Covid ward: at least 27 dead

Iraq, hospital fire in a Covid ward: at least 27 dead

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A tragic accident occurred in a Baghdad hospital for Covid patients. Local media and officials reported that a fire broke out after some oxygen cylinders exploded causing fatalities.

Ambulances and firefighters have rushed to put out the flames and free patients from Ibn al-Khatib hospital in Baghdad, which provides care for coronavirus patients in its intensive care unit. Initial reports speak of at least 27 dead and over 36 injured, according to medical and security officials.

Iraqi authorities have not released an official death toll. There were at least 120 patients in the hospital at the time of the fire, a hospital doctor said. The fire is believed to have been caused when at least one oxygen cylinder exploded inside the hospital, local media reported. At least two doctors present at the scene confirmed that they believe that the oxygen cylinder had caused the flames that hit the second floor of the hospital.

According to the Civil Protection, the flames spread rapidly due to the “lack of a fire protection system and the false ceilings built with easily flammable materials.” The flames spread to multiple floors, a medical source explained, while several relatives of the patients were also in the facility. “Most of the people died because when the rescuers tried to move them to safety, the fans were disconnected. Others have been suffocated by smoke, ”explained a source of the Civil Protection.

The source assured that “90 people out of a total of 120 patients and their relatives were saved”, but was unable to provide an exact number of the dead and injured. In a statement released several hours after the accident, the health ministry assured that “over 200 people were saved”.

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