At least 82 people were killed, and 110 were injured in a fire in a hospital in the Iraqi capital Baghdad. Corona patients were treated in the building. Dozens of the fatalities were on artificial respiration.
The fire at Ibn Khatib hospital started the night after an accidental explosion of an oxygen tank. The fire quickly spread across the floors. All patients have been moved to further hospitals.
According to Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhem, there has been negligence. He has ordered an investigation into the fatal fire. The hospital director and management of security and maintenance personnel are detained pending the investigation.
A government, the human rights commission, called the fire “a crime” against the corona patients who died in the fire while entrusting their lives to the authorities. The Prime Minister has stated three days of national mourning.
Iraq officially has just over 1 million corona infections, the largest of all Arab states. More than 15,000 individuals have died from Covid-19 in Iraq since the pandemic began. About 300,000 people have had a first corona prick.