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.
Baghdad
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.
Maher Ahmed, a nurse, was called at 9:45 p.m. Saturday night, to come to the scene and help evacuate patients.
82 killed in Iraq hospital fire including numerous COVID-19 patients
Samya Kullab
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.
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.
Iraq’s Interior Ministry said on Sunday that 82 people died and 110 others were injured in a catastrophic fire that broke out in the intensive care unit of a Baghdad hospital which was treating seriously ill coronavirus patients.
Negligence on the part of hospital authorities has been blamed for Saturday night’s blaze, which initial reports suggested was caused when an oxygen cylinder exploded in a ward at the Ibn al-Khatib hospital.
Iraq’s prime minister sacked key hospital officials hours after the incident.
Among the dead were at least 28 Covid-19 patients on ventilators, Ali al-Bayati, a spokesman for the country’s independent Human Rights Commission, a semi-official body, said on Twitter.
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