Iraq: At least 50 killed, dozens injured in Covid hospital fire

In Iraq, at least 50 people were killed and dozens injured in a fire likely caused by an oxygen tank explosion at a coronavirus hospital in  southern city of Nassiriya. As rescuers combed the smoke-charred building in search of more bodies, Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi had ordered the suspension and arrest of health and civil defence managers in Nassiriya, his office said in a statement. The manager of the hospital was also suspended and ordered to be arrested, the statement added. The new ward, opened just three months ago, contained 70 beds.

Ammar al-Zamili, spokesman for the Dhi Qar health department, told local media, there were at least 63 patients inside the ward when the fire began. "Health crews carried charred bodies out of the burning hospital while many patients were coughing from the rising smoke," a Reuters reporter at the site of the fire said. Health officials at Nassiriya said search operations at the al-Hussain coronavirus hospital were continuing after the fire was brought under control, but thick smoke was making it difficult to enter some of the burnt wards. Initial police reports suggested that an oxygen tank explosion inside the hospital's Covid-19 wards was the likely cause of the fire, a policeman at the scene of the fire said. Health sources said  the death toll from Monday's fire could rise as many patients were still missing. Two health workers were among the dead, they said. Angry relatives gathered in front of the hospital and clashed with police, setting fire to two police vehicles.

Already decimated by war and sanctions, Iraq's healthcare system has struggled to cope with the coronavirus crisis, which has killed 17,592 people and infected more than 1.4 million. In April, a fire caused by an oxygen tank explosion at a Covid-19 hospital in Baghdad killed at least 82 people and injured 110 others. Weary of political violence, Iraqis also suffer frequent accidents due to under-investment, corruption and wrecked infrastructure. During the coronavirus crisis, hospitals have struggled with an influx of patients and short supplies.