The death toll from a hospital fire in Iraq has risen to 82

 

A fire at a hospital in Iraq has killed at least 80 people. The blaze broke out at Ibn al-Khatib Hospital in the eastern part of the capital, Baghdad, at midnight on Saturday. Sources said the oxygen cylinder exploded and set the hospital on fire. The Iraqi Prime Minister has fired the health minister over the incident.The hospital was treating patients infected with the coronavirus. 

The Iraqi Ministry of Health said 82 people had been killed in the blaze. 110 people were burnt. The Iraqi Human Rights Commission said 26 of the dead were in hospital. The ventilator was opened to move them.A source said the explosion was caused by a fault in the hospital where the oxygen cylinders were stored. The fire spread quickly after the explosion at midnight. Relatives of the slain patients were at the hospital's Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at the time of the incident.

The Iraqi Civil Defense Service said the hospital did not have a fire protection system.Witnesses said rescue efforts began slowly after the fire broke out. There was also a lack of coordination in the rescue operation.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi has fired his health minister, Hassan al-Tamimi, following a fire. The Prime Minister also declared three days of national mourning over the fire.