CAIRO, April 25. /TASS/. The number of people killed by Saturday’s blast and subsequent fire at a COVID-19 hospital in Baghdad has risen to 28, while over 50 patients were injured, Iraq’s Dijlah TV reported on Sunday.
However, according to the Iraqi human rights commission, the blaze left between 30 and 45 people dead. Members of the commission have already demanded the health minister to resign.
The fire at the Ibn Khatib hospital in the Diyala Bridge area in the southeast of the Iraqi capital broke out following a blast at a storage room with oxygen cylinders. The room was located at the area housing intensive care unit for critically ill persons with breathing problems. The two-storey building’s interior was almost completely destroyed by fire. About 30 firefighting units were sent to the scene.
According to eyewitnesses, the fire caused widespread panic in the hospital, with people running around in search for emergency exits.
The civil defense and emergency service estimates that about 120 people were inside the hospital at the time of the disaster. About 90 of them were rescued.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi ordered a thorough investigation into the tragedy. The hospital’s chief doctor, chief safety official and persons in charge of the building’s technical maintenance have been detained. It turned out that the hospital had no fire protection systems, and flammable materials were used in its interior design.