April 26 2021 A fire broke out at a Coronavirus Point hospital in the Iraqi capital Baghdad on Thursday evening, killing 82 people and injuring 110 others, foreign media reported.
The tragic accident sparked outrage and calls for officials to be held accountable. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Baghdadi has called for a thorough investigation into the incident and ordered the health minister to suspend it.
According to reports, on the evening of the 24th, the capital, Baghdad’s eastern district dedicated to the treatment of patients in Coronavirus of the Ibb Khatib hospital, several oxygen tanks exploded and started a fire.
At least 82 people have been killed and 110 injured in the accident, according to figures released by Iraq’s Ministry of Health. Many of the victims were seriously ill patients who had been treated with respirators, either asphyxiated or burned to death.
Civil defense and firefighters rushed to the scene to rescue about 90 patients and medical staff trapped by the fire, and successfully put out the fire, many rescued people were injured by debris after the explosion of oxygen tanks or suffocation.
Sources said the oxygen tank explosion was caused by “storage errors.” Iraqi civil defence authorities noted that Khatib hospital was not equipped with a fire-fighting system and that decorative ceilings had caused the fire to spread to highly flammable materials.
Angry people on social media after the incident called for Health Minister Tamimi to step down, Prime Minister Haider al-Abdeslam has suspended him from the investigation, and to find out whether Baghdad Governor Jabo also lost.
Eyewitnesses said evacuations were slow and chaotic at the time of the incident, with patients and family members scrambling to escape to the exit crowding the stairs. Amir, 35, told AFP: “It was the people who rescued the wounded. He also said he had rescued his brother from hospital when he was “in a thousand strokes.”
Iraqi President Ali Abdullah Saleh tweeted: “The tragedy at Khatib Hospital is the result of years of corruption and mismanagement of state institutions. ”
The Iraqi Human Rights Commission also supported The Removal Of Tamimi From Office, Denouncing The Fire As “A Criminal Act Against PatientS Whose Physical Strength Has Been Depleted By Coronavirus Outbreak.” These patients entrust their lives to the Ministry of Health and its agencies,…… They were supposed to be treated but died in the fire. ”
