Iraqi official says 58 killed in Baghdad COVID- 19 hospital fire

Fifty- eight people were killed in a fire that ravaged a COVID- 19 hospital in the Iraqi capital overnight Sunday, according to an official toll.

“The number of deaths as a result of the Ibn al- Khatib hospital fire was 58, of which 28 were on ventilators” being treated for COVID- 19, Ali Bayati, a member of Iraq’s Human Rights Commission, said.

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, the sources said.

Many ambulances were rushing toward the hospital, ferrying away those hurt by the fire, a Reuters photographer nearby said.

Patients not injured in the incident were also being transferred out of the hospital, the medical sources said.

The head of Iraqi civil defense unit said the fire broke out in the floor designated for the pulmonary intensive care unit and that 90 people have been rescued from the hospital out of 120, state news agency INA quoted him as saying.

Major General Kadhim Bohan added that the fire has been put out.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al- Kadhimi ordered an investigation into the incident in the early hours of Sunday.

“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.”

Several victims’ families were still at the hospital hours after the fire had been put out, having been unable to locate them elsewhere. An eyewitness who was visiting his brother when the fire broke out described people jumping out of windows as the fire, caused by the explosion of an oxygen bottle, spread quickly throughout the unit. Patients’ relatives scrambled to save their loved ones. dongfeng@ globaltimes. com. cn