82 have died in a Baghdad hospital fire as a result of an oxygen tank explosion. The hospital was housing Covid patients
Updated at 14:31 EDT
At least 82 people died in a massive hospital fire Saturday night in Baghdad, the Iraqi Interior Ministry announced Sunday. 110 more people were injured in the fire, according to ministry spokesman Major General Khaled Al-Muhanna.
The fire at the Ibn Khatib hospital in the Diyala Bridge area of the Iraqi capital occurred after an accident caused an oxygen tank to explode, according to officials.
Many ambulances were rushing towards the hospital, ferrying away those hurt by the fire, a Reuters photographer said.
Patients not injured in the incident were also being transferred out of the hospital.
The head of Iraqi civil defence unit told the state news agency INA that the fire broke out on the floor designated for the pulmonary intensive care unit and that 90 of 120 people in the hospital have been rescued.
Maj Gen Kadhim Bohan added that the fire has now been put out.
Iraq’s healthcare system, already ruined by decades of sanctions, war and neglect, has been stretched further during the coronavirus crisis. Read more from Guardian
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Dozens of others were injured in the blaze, which erupted at the Ibn Khatib hospital on Saturday night.
Reports say an accident had caused an oxygen tank to explode, sparking the blaze.
Videos on social media show firefighters scrambling to extinguish the flames as people flee the building.
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Iraq’s Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi called for an immediate investigation into the causes of what he called a “tragic accident”.
The head of Iraq’s Civil Defence, Major General Kadhim Bohan, told state media the fire broke out in the hospital’s intensive-care unit, on a floor “designated for pulmonary resuscitation”.
About “30 patients were in the intensive care unit”, which was reserved for the most severe cases of Covid-19 in Baghdad, a hospital source told the AFP news agency.
The injured and patients who weren’t hurt have been taken by ambulance to other hospitals nearby. Read more from BBC
