A fire in a hospital in Gaziantep, in south-eastern Turkey, killed nine people on Saturday, December 19, all of them hospitalized with Covid-19, the Turkish Minister of Health announced.
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The fire occurred in the hospital's intensive care unit dedicated to Covid-19 patients, following the explosion of an oxygen tube from a life support ventilator.
All of the victims were hospitalized Covid-19 patients.
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The other patients affected by the fire were transferred to other hospitals in the region.
"We are deeply sad about this tragic fact
,
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announced Fahrettin Koca, the Turkish Minister of Health, who is expected to visit the site during the day.
Turkey has recorded more than 1.9 million cases of Covid-19 and more than 17,600 deaths.
Faced with a surge in Covid-19 cases, Turkey tightened the restrictions in place at the end of November with the introduction of a total curfew during the weekend and partial during the week.
