82 killed and many others injured as fire erupts in Iraq’s hospital

Lahore, 25th April: Several killed and many others got injured after a fire erupted in a coronavirus hospital in Baghdad, the capital city of Iraq.

According to reports, a fire was sparked by an oxygen tank that exploded and killed 82 people and injured 110 at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of a hospital in Baghdad that was equipped to treat coronavirus patients.

Iraq’s Interior Ministry spokesman said on Sunday, “We urgently need to review safety measures at all hospitals to prevent such a painful incident from happening in future.”

The officials in Baghdad confirmed that the fire erupted on Saturday at the Ibn Khatib hospital in the Diyala Bridge area.

According to civil defense officials, the fire spread rapidly as there was no fire protection system in the hospital and that the fire spread easily to flammable products due to broken roofs.

Ahmed Zaki, who was meeting his brother when the fire broke out, saw people jumping out of windows and said the fire spread rapidly to the COVID-19 patients’ treatment unit.

He further informed that initially, there was an explosion. Doctors and the general public were falling on each other and jumping out of windows and stairs.

The fire caused many of the oxygen tanks designated to support the #COVID19 patients in the hospital to explode. #Baghdad so far dozens of victims have been reported. pic.twitter.com/OAC8Jt3jq3

— Steven Nabil (@thestevennabil) April 24, 2021