At least 44 people were killed and over 67 injured in a very fire likely caused by an oxygen tank explosion at a coronavirus hospital in Iraq`s southern city of Nassiriya, health officials and police said on Monday (July 12).
As rescuers combed the smoke-charred building in search of more bodies, Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi held urgent meetings with senior ministers and ordered the suspension and arrest of health and protection managers in Nassiriya, his office said during a statement.
The manager of the hospital was also suspended and ordered to be arrested, the statement added.
Already decimated by war and sanctions, Iraq`s healthcare system has struggled to deal with the coronavirus crisis, which has killed 17,592 people and infected quite 1.4 million.
"Health crews carried charred bodies out of the burning hospital while many patients were coughing from the rising smoke," a Reuters reporter at the positioning of the fireplace said.
Health officials at Nassiriya said search operations at the al-Hussain coronavirus hospital were continuing after the hearth was brought in restraint, but thick smoke was making it difficult to enter a number of the burnt wards.
"Raging fires have trapped many patients inside the coronavirus ward and rescue teams are struggling to achieve them," a medical expert told Reuters before entering the burning building.
Initial police reports suggested that an oxygen tank explosion inside the hospital`s COVID-19 wards was the likely reason behind the hearth, a policeman at the scene of the hearth said.
"I heard an enormous explosion inside the coronavirus wards so the hearth had erupted very quickly," said Ali Muhsin, a hospital guard who was helping to hold wounded patients aloof from fires.
In April, a hearth caused by an oxygen tank explosion at a COVID-19 hospital in Baghdad killed a minimum of 82 people and injured 110 others.
Health sources said earlier the price from Monday`s fire could rise as many patients were still missing. Two medical examiners were among the dead, they said.
Angry relatives gathered before of the hospital and clashed with police, setting fire to 2 police vehicles, a Reuters witness said.
Weary of political violence, Iraqis also suffer frequent accidents because of under-investment, corruption, and wrecked infrastructure. During the coronavirus crisis, hospitals have struggled with an influx of patients and short supplies.
"Corrupt officials must be held in control of the fireplace and killing innocent patients. Where is my father`s body," said one young man as he searched among charred bodies wrapped in blankets within the hospital`s yard.
