More Than 60 People Are Dead After A Hospital Fire In A Southern Iraqi City

https://www.npr.org/2021/07/13/ [login to see] /more-than-60-people-dead-after-hospital-fire-in-southern-iraqi-city
A fire that broke out in the coronavirus ward of a hospital in southern Iraq has killed at least 64 people and injured dozens more, according to health officials on Tuesday.

Flames swept through outbuildings of the al-Hussein Teaching Hospital in the southern city of Nasiryah on Monday that had been set up to isolate those sick with COVID-19. Patients became trapped inside, with rescue teams struggling to reach them in time.

Photographs from the scene showed onlookers silhouetted by the flames that encompassed the buildings and lit up the night sky. Later, images showed rescue workers picking through the charred remains of bodies and hospital beds on the ward.

Officials told The Associated Press that the fire may have been caused by an electric short circuit, but did not provide more detail. Another health official in Dhi Qar Province, where Nasiriyah is located, said the fire erupted when an oxygen cylinder exploded.

This is the second time a fire has ripped through the coronavirus ward of a hospital in Iraq. In April at least 82 people died at Ibn al-Khatib hospital in Baghdad after in a fire caused by a faulty oxygen tank.