BAGHDAD – At least 23 people died when a fire broke out in a coronavirus intensive care unit in the Iraqi capital here today, medical and security sources told AFP.
The explosion was caused by “a fault in the storage of oxygen cylinders”, said the medical sources, adding that several dozen people were injured.
Videos on social media showed firefighters trying to extinguish flames at Ibn al-Khatib Hospital on the southeastern outskirts of the city, as patients and their relatives tried to flee the building.
A medical source at the hospital said “30 patients were in the ICU” reserved for the most severe Covid-19 cases in Baghdad.
Civil defence told Iraqi state news outlets that personnel “rescued 90 people out of 120 patients and their relatives” at the scene, but did not give the exact number of dead and wounded.
The fire, which, according to several sources, was caused by negligence – often linked to endemic corruption in Iraq – sparked a heated reaction on social media.
Baghdad Governor Mohammed Jaber called on “the Health Ministry to establish a commission of enquiry, so that those who did not do their jobs may be brought to justice”.
On Wednesday, the number of Covid-19 cases in Iraq surpassed a million. The country has recorded the highest number of infections in the Arab world.
The Health Ministry has recorded a total of 1,025,288 cases and 15,217 deaths since the first infections were reported in February last year.
It said it carries out around 40,000 tests daily in a population of 40 million.
Iraq’s hospitals have been worn down by decades of conflict and poor investment, with shortages in medicines and hospital beds.
Patients who are able to often prefer to source oxygen tanks for treatment at home, rather than go to overcrowded and rundown facilities.
The country launched its Covid-19 vaccination campaign last month, and has received nearly 650,000 doses of different vaccines – the majority by donation or through the Covax programme, which is supporting low- and middle-income nations to procure jabs.
As of Wednesday, 274,343 people had received at least one dose, said the Health Ministry.
Health authorities face an uphill battle to convince Iraqis to get vaccinated, in the face of widespread scepticism over the jabs and public reluctance to wear masks since the start of the pandemic. – AFP, April 25, 2021
