The toll of the fire that ravaged the Covid-19 unit of a hospital in Nassiriya, in southern Iraq, is very heavy and it is only provisional for the moment. At least 52 patients were killed in the disaster on Monday, two and a half months after a similar tragedy that left more than 80 dead in a Baghdad hospital. A state of emergency has been declared in the province of Dhi Qar, on which Nassiriya depends.
The fire also left 22 people injured, according to local health authority spokesperson Haydar al-Zamili, adding that the hospital’s Covid-19 unit had 70 beds. “The victims are burned to death and the search continues” to find survivors, Prime Minister Moustafa al-Kazimi said.
The director of the hospital interviewed
Videos posted on social media showed scenes of chaos and huge swirls of black smoke billowing from the facility. Hundreds of people gathered at the scene to help firefighters and rescuers. According to a medical source, 20 patients were able to be evacuated from the burning establishment.
The Prime Minister brought together ministers and security officials overnight to “examine the causes and consequences of the fire,” his cabinet said, adding on Twitter that the hospital director and the official of the civil defense of the province of Dhi Qar were questioned by the police. According to a source from the provincial health department, the fire was caused by the explosion of oxygen cylinders. This scenario would therefore be an identical repetition of the tragedy that occurred last April in Baghdad. The Iraqi Interior Ministry said the fire started from temporary structures erected near the facility, but did not specify the origin of the incident.
“The political parties are burning us! “
The tragedy immediately provoked angry reactions in Nassiriya, where hundreds of people gathered in front of the hospital shouting: “The political parties are burning us!” “. “The Al-Hussein hospital disaster is clear proof of (the failure) to protect the lives of Iraqis and it is time to put an end to this catastrophic failure,” tweeted Iraqi Parliament Speaker Mohammed al- Halboussi, indicating that the deputies would take up the matter on Tuesday.
Most Iraqi hospitals are dormant and the health system has been dilapidated for years, plagued by economic hardship and corruption. On Monday, a fire broke out at the Ministry of Health in Baghdad and was quickly brought under control, with no casualties. Iraq has more than 1.4 million people infected with the coronavirus and the epidemic has claimed more than 17,000 lives.