According to a report released by India Today, Iraq’s Southern city of Nassiriya, due to a fire which is likely caused by an oxygen tank explosion at a coronavirus hospital, at least 50 people were killed and dozens injured, as mentioned by the health officials and the police on Monday.
Ordering the suspension and arrest of Health and civil defense managers in the City, urgent meetings with senior ministers was held by Prime Minister Mustafa al Kadhimi, as rescuers combed the smoke charred building in search of more bodies, according to his office in a statement. Along with others, the manager of the hospital was also suspended and ordered to be arrested.
Speaking on the condition of anonymity in line with regulations, two medical officials mentioned that the new ward containing 70 beds had opened just three months ago.
A policeman at the scene of the fire stated that an oxygen tank explosion inside the hospital’s coronavirus wards might be the cause of the fire as the initial police reports suggested. While two health workers among the dead, many patients were still missing the death toll from Monday’s fire code rice as said by the health sources.
In a similar case earlier, at a coronavirus hospital in Baghdad, a fire caused by an oxygen tank explosion in April had claimed the lives of at least 82 people and injured 110 others.
