Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


At Least 82 Die in Baghdad COVID Hospital Fire, says Interior Ministry

Reuters

   BAGHDAD - A fire sparked by an oxygen tank explosion killed at least 82
   people and injured 110 at a hospital in Baghdad that had been equipped
   to house COVID-19 patients, an Interior Ministry spokesman said on
   Sunday.

   "We urgently need to review safety measures at all hospitals to prevent
   such a painful incident from happening in future," spokesman Khalid
   al-Muhanna told state television, announcing the toll.

   The fire erupted on Saturday at the Ibn Khatib hospital in the Diyala
   Bridge area.

   Ali Bayati, a member of Iraq's semi-official High Commission for Human
   Rights, had said earlier a final death toll had not yet been officially
   announced but it could be between 30 to 45.

   Patients' relatives scrambled during the blaze to save their loved
   ones.

   A man who had been visiting his brother described people jumping out of
   windows to escape.

   "The fire spread, like fuel ... I took my brother out to the street,
   next to the checkpoint. Then I came [back]and went up from there. To
   the last floor, that did not burn. I found a girl suffocating, about 19
   years old, she was suffocating, she was about to die," said Ahmed Zaki.

   "I took her on my shoulders, and I ran down. People were jumping...
   Doctors fell on the cars. Everyone was jumping. And I kept going up
   from there, got people and come down again," Zaki said.

   Patients were moved to other hospitals, medical sources said. But
   several families were still at the hospital hours after the fire had
   been extinguished, after failing to find them elsewhere.

   Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi ordered an investigation.

   "Such an incident is evidence of negligence and therefore I directed
   that an investigation be launched immediately and for the hospital's
   manager and the heads of security and maintenance to be detained along
   with all those concerned until we identify those negligent and hold
   them accountable," he said in a statement.

   Iraq's healthcare system, ruined by decades of sanctions, war and
   neglect, has been stretched during the coronavirus crisis. The country
   has recorded a total of 102,5288 infections, including 15,217 deaths,
   the health ministry said on Saturday.

   Security has improved in recent years but Iraq still suffers from
   political violence, including militia rocket attacks on foreign forces
   and a low-level Islamic State insurgency.

   Accidents due to neglect and wrecked infrastructure have compounded the
   woes of ordinary Iraqis.

   In 2019, at least 90 people died when an overloaded ferry carrying
   families on an outing sank in the Tigris river in the northern city of
   Mosul.