A fire broke out in a medical institution in eastern Baghdad caused by an explosion of an oxygen balloon. • Many people were seriously injured in the incident.
Documentation from the hospital after the explosion
Photo:
Reuters
Heavy disaster in Baghdad:
At least 82 people, including children, were killed in an explosion and fire at al-Khatib Hospital in the eastern Iraqi capital.
The fire was caused by an explosion of an oxygen balloon used to breathe corona patients at the hospital.
Videos circulated on social media show firefighters battling the severe fire, and many casualties being evacuated for medical treatment.
The official number of those injured in the disaster has not yet been released, but Iraqi officials estimate that it is over 100, many of them seriously injured.
At least 24 killed, and dozens injured, after a fire broke out in a hospital in #Baghdad.
Iraq's civil defense unit says it happened when several oxygen tanks exploded late Saturday night.
The fire has been put out, and around 90 patients and healthcare workers have been rescued.
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- WatchTower (@WatchTowerGW) April 25, 2021
The head of the rescue services in Iraq, General Kadem Bohan, said the blast took place in an intensive care unit while 30 patients were staying, all of them Corona patients.
The department was used to deal with the most severe cases of the corona in Baghdad.
The fire quickly spread between the various wings of the hospital and caused a large number of casualties.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Qadimi has ordered the allocation of emergency units to treat the wounded from other provinces of the country, and announced that a state commission of inquiry will be set up to investigate the causes of the disaster, which he called a "tragic accident".
Hospitals in Iraq have collapsed during the corona plague, with more than a million citizens infected and more than 15,000 dying from the disease. In a country where health services were in a state of disintegration even before the outbreak of the epidemic, there is particularly severe pressure on hospitals, which in many cases have had to provide impromptu solutions for hospital respiration.