A fire in a hospital in Gaziantep, in south-eastern Turkey, killed nine people on Saturday, all of them hospitalized with Covid-19, the Turkish Minister of Health announced.
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.
The other patients affected by the fire were transferred to other hospitals in the region.
Nearly 2 million cases
"We are deeply sad about this tragic fact," 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.
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Faced with a surge in Covid-19 cases, Turkey strengthened the restrictions in place at the end of November with the introduction of a total curfew during the weekend and partial during the week.