At least 44 people were killed and over 67 injured in a fire likely caused by an oxygen tank explosion at a coronavirus hospital in Iraq’s southern city of Nassiriya, health officials and police said on Monday.
As rescuers combed the smoke-charred building in search of more bodies, Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi held urgent meetings with senior ministers and ordered the suspension and arrest of health and civil defense managers in Nassiriya, his office said in a statement.
The manager of the hospital was also suspended and ordered to be arrested, the statement added.
Haydar al-Zamili, the local health authority’s spokesperson, said early Tuesday morning that 52 bodies were retrieved and another 22 people were wounded in the latest toll, after the fire had “ripped through the COVID-19 isolation ward”.
“The victims died of burns and the search is continuing,” he said, noting that there were fears victims could still be trapped inside the building. The ward had space for 70 beds.
As rescuers combed the smoke-charred building in search of more bodies, Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi held urgent meetings with senior ministers and ordered the suspension and arrest of health and civil defence managers in Nassiriya, his office said in a statement.
“The catastrophe of Al-Hussein Hospital is clear proof of the failure to protect the lives of Iraqis, and it is time to put an end to this,” wrote Mohamed al-Halbousi, Iraq’s Parliament Speaker, on Twitter.
Iraq’s interior ministry said on Facebook late Monday that the fire tore through temporary structures erected next to the main building, but did not specify the cause.