At least 52 people have been killed in a fire at the coronavirus isolation ward of a hospital in Iraq, the second such deadly blaze in a COVID-19 unit in three months. A medical source with the health directorate told AFP news agency the “main reason behind the fire… was the explosion of oxygen tanks”. “Many people have taken to the streets in Nasiriya and in front of the hospital,” said Abdelwahed, who said that the manager of the hospital had resigned. The blaze at the Nasiriya hospital is the second such tragedy this year. In April, a fire at a Baghdad COVID-19 hospital sparked by the explosion of badly stored oxygen cylinders killed 82 people and injured 110 others.

Source: The Nation July 13, 2021 01:52 UTC