At least 82 die in fire at Baghdad hospital for virus patients

BAGHDAD • A fire sparked by an exploding oxygen tank killed at least 82 people and injured 110 at a hospital in Baghdad that had been equipped to house Covid-19 patients, an Interior Ministry spokesman said yesterday.

"We urgently need to review safety measures at all hospitals to prevent such a painful incident from happening in future," spokesman Khalid al-Muhanna told state television, when announcing the toll.

The fire erupted on Saturday at the Ibn al-Khatib hospital in the Diyala Bridge area.

Many ambulances were rushing towards the hospital, ferrying away those injured, a Reuters photographer nearby said.

Patients not injured in the incident were also being transferred out of the hospital, medical sources said.

State news agency INA quoted the head of the Iraqi civil defence unit as saying the fire broke out on the floor designated for the pulmonary intensive care unit and that 90 people had been rescued from the hospital out of 120.

Major General Kadhim Bohan added that the fire has been put out.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi has ordered a probe, saying: "Such an incident is evidence of negligence and therefore I directed that an investigation be launched immediately and for the hospital's manager and the heads of security and maintenance to be detained along with all those concerned until we identify those negligent and hold them accountable."

Several victims' families were still at the hospital hours after the fire had been put out, having been unable to locate them elsewhere.

An eyewitness who was visiting his brother when the fire broke out described people jumping out of windows as the blaze, caused by the explosion of an oxygen bottle, spread quickly throughout the unit equipped to house Covid-19 patients.

Iraq's healthcare system, already ruined by decades of sanctions, war and neglect, has been stretched during the coronavirus crisis.

The total number of people infected with Covid-19 in Iraq is 102,5288 including 15,217 deaths, the health ministry said on Saturday.

REUTERS