82 dead after fire of coronavirus ward of Baghdad hospital
By Samya Kullab article
A view of Ibn al-Hatip Hospital as fire erupts at the hospital where coronavirus patients were being treated in Baghdad, Iraq on April 24, 2021.(Photo by Murtadha Al-Sudani/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
BAGHDAD (AP) - The death toll from a massive fire in a Baghdad hospital for coronavirus patients rose to 82 Sunday, as anxious relatives searched for those missing and the government suspended key health officials for alleged negligence.
The blaze, described by one witness as volcanoes of fire, swept through the intensive care unit of the Ibn al-Khatib hospital which tends exclusively to coronavirus patients with severe symptoms. Officials said the blaze, which also injured 110 people, was set off by an exploding oxygen cylinder.
Firefighters and volunteers searched smoke-filled hospital wards for survivors. Ambulances transported dozens of wounded. The Health Ministry said at least 200 people were rescued from the scene. Doctors at the scene were frazzled by the chaos unfolding around them. They said numerous burned bodies were carried out by paramedics from the hospital floor. By midday Sunday, relatives were still searching anxiously for unaccounted for loved ones. “Please, two of my relatives are missing. . I am going to die (without news about them),” posted a young woman on social media after a fruitless search for her family members. “I hope someone can help us find Sadi Abdul Kareem and Samir Abdul Kareem, they were in the ICU.”
82 killed, 110 injured in Baghdad hospital fire: Iraq Interior Ministry
Iraqi policemen stand at an entrance to the Ibn Al-Khatib Hospital in Baghdad as people wait for relatives receiving COVID-19 treatment, on April 25, 2021, after a fire erupted in the medical facility reserved for the most severe coronavirus cases. - At least 23 people died when a fire broke out in a coronavirus intensive care unit in the capital of Iraq, a country with long-dilapidated health infrastructure facing mounting COVID-19 cases.
(Photo by AFP)
Baghdad: Iraq s Interior Ministry said Sunday that 82 people died and 110 were injured in a catastrophic fire that broke out in the intensive care unit of a Baghdad hospital tending to severe coronavirus patients.
Iraq Interior Ministry: 82 killed in Baghdad hospital fire
By SAMYA KULLABApril 25, 2021 GMT
BAGHDAD (AP) Iraq’s Interior Ministry said Sunday that 82 people died and 110 were injured in a catastrophic fire that broke out in the intensive care unit of a Baghdad hospital tending to severe coronavirus patients.
Negligence on the part of hospital authorities has been blamed for the Saturday night fire, which initial reports suggest was caused when an oxygen cylinder exploded in the ward of Ibn al-Khatib hospital. Iraq’s prime minister fired key hospital officials hours after the catastrophic incident.
Among the dead were at least 28 patients on ventilators battling severe symptoms of the virus, tweeted Ali al-Bayati, a spokesman of the country’s independent Human Rights Commission. The commission is a semi-official body.
82 people killed in Baghdad hospital fire in intensive care unit, Iraqi official says
April 25, 2021 / 7:53 AM / AP
Iraq s Interior Ministry said Sunday that 82 people died and 110 were injured in a catastrophic fire that broke out in the intensive care unit of a Baghdad hospital tending to severe coronavirus patients.
Negligence on the part of hospital authorities has been blamed for the Saturday night fire, which initial reports suggest was caused when an oxygen cylinder exploded in the ward of Ibn al-Khatib hospital. Iraq s prime minister fired key hospital officials hours after the catastrophic incident.
Among the dead were at least 28 patients on ventilators battling severe symptoms of the virus, tweeted Ali al-Bayati, a spokesman of the country s independent Human Rights Commission. The commission is a semi-official body.