Tue 13 July 2021:
At least 41 people have died after a fire tore through the Covid isolation ward at a hospital in the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah.
The death toll is expected to rise, as search operations at al-Hussain coronavirus hospital continued.
“The victims died of burns and the search is continuing,” said Haydar al-Zamili, a spokesperson for the local health authorities, noting that there were fears that many victims were still trapped inside the building.
Another fire at #COVID_19 hospital in #Iraq, this time in #Nasriyah. #infrastructural_violence #structural_violence #political_violence pic.twitter.com/iNjq6MvURi
— Zahra Ali زهراء علي (@ZahraSociology) July 13, 2021
#DhiQaar #Iraq 🇮🇶
Images from the fire-stricken Imam Hussain hospital, Nassiriyah. pic.twitter.com/23UZjJZ60W— Aleph א (@no_itsmyturn) July 12, 2021
Latest on #IRAQ hospital fire. Death toll reaches at least 39, including 2 medical staff & security guard, after a fire broke out in the COVID isolation ward at Al-Hussein hospital in Nasiriya, southern Iraq. pic.twitter.com/0R4YgvKiWl
— Arwa Ibrahim (@arwaib) July 12, 2021
Initial police reports suggested that an oxygen tank explosion inside the hospital’s Covid-19 ward was the likely cause of the fire, a policeman at the scene of the fire said.
Five more people lost their lives in the fire that broke out at Al-Hussein Hospital in Nasiriya city in Dhi Qar governorate, the ministry said in a statement.
The fire was caused by the misuse of oxygen cylinders, it added.
Videos shared online showed thick clouds of smoke billowing from the Hussein hospital.
Local civil defense forces announced that firefighters had brought the blaze under control.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi held an emergency meeting with some ministers and security officials to discuss the fire, according to a statement from the press office of the prime minister.
Following the meeting, Dhi Qar Governor Ahmed al-Khafaji issued a statement saying it was decided to form a high-level committee to investigate the exact cause of the fire and to present a final report to the public within 48 hours.
A state of mourning has been declared in Dhi Qar governorate for those who lost their lives in the fire and official working hours were suspended for three days from Tuesday.
A previous statement said that five others were injured in the fire.
Earlier Monday, a fire broke out on the fourth floor of the Ministry of Health in central Baghdad.
The blaze at the hospital is the second such tragedy this year. In April, a fire at a Baghdad Covid-19 hospital killed 82 and injured 110, sparked by the explosion of badly stored oxygen cylinders.
Many of the victims were on respirators being treated for Covid-19 and were burned or suffocated in the resulting inferno. Dozens of relatives were visiting patients in the intensive care unit. The then health minister, Hassan al-Tamimi, resigned after the April fire.
