At least 92 die in Iraq hospital coronavirus ward fire after oxygen tank blast
- Oxygen tank explosion blamed for massive blaze
- Iraqi PM orders arrest of Nasiriyah health officials
At least 92 people died and more than 100 were injured when a massive fire engulfed the coronavirus isolation ward of an Iraqi hospital on Monday, health officials said on Tuesday.
The fire broke out at the Al-Hussein hospital in the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah late on Monday and was brought under control by local civil defence forces.
Officials who spoke under condition of anonymity variously said the fire was caused by an electric short circuit and an exploding oxygen cylinder.
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Over 50 dead after another oxygen tank blast and fire at coronavirus ward in Iraqi hospital
Overnight, firefighters and rescuers — many with just flashlights and using blankets to extinguish small fires still smoldering in places — had frantically worked searching through the ward in the darkness. As dawn broke, bodies covered with sheets were laid on the ground outside the hospital. The new ward, opened just three months ago, had space for 70 beds.
The deadly hospital blaze is the second such fire in Iraq in three months.
Outside the hospital, dozens of young demonstrators protested.
“The (political) parties have burned us,” they shouted in unison.