NASIRIYA, Iraq: At least 52 people were killed and 22 others injured in a fire likely caused by an oxygen tank explosion at a COVID-19 hospital in Iraq's southern city of Nassiriya, health officials and police said on Monday .The fire broke out at the Al-Hussein hospital late on Monday and was brought under control by local civil defence forces.
As rescuers combed the smoke-charred building in search of more bodies, Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi held urgent meetings with senior ministers and ordered the suspension and arrest of health and civil defence managers in Nassiriya, his office said in a statementThe manager of the hospital was also suspended and ordered to be arrested, the statement added.
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. "Raging fires have trapped many patients inside the coronavirus ward and rescue teams are struggling to reach them," a health worker told Reuters before entering the burning building.
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.
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