Iraq Interior Ministry: 82 killed in Baghdad hospital fire

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By SAMYA KULLAB

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq’s Interior Ministry said Sunday that 82 people died and 110 were injured in a catastrophic fire that broke out in the intensive care unit of a Baghdad hospital tending to severe coronavirus patients.

Negligence on the part of hospital authorities has been blamed for the Saturday night fire, which initial reports suggest was caused when an oxygen cylinder exploded in the ward of Ibn al-Khatib hospital. Iraq’s prime minister fired key hospital officials hours after the catastrophic incident.

Among the dead were at least 28 patients on ventilators battling severe symptoms of the virus, tweeted Ali al-Bayati, a spokesman of the country’s independent Human Rights Commission. The commission is a semi-official body.

Firefighters rushed to battle the flames that raged across the second floor of the hospital. Civil defense teams put out flames until the early hours of the morning.



In this image made from video, first responders work the scene of a fire at a hospital in Baghdad on Saturday, April 24, 2021. The fire broke out in the Baghdad hospital that cares for coronavirus patients after oxygen cylinders reportedly exploded late Saturday, officials said. (AP Photo)


Read more: https://apnews.com/article/health-fires-middle-east-iraq-coronavirus-ebe41d9680c0c8922718fa80171a9660

[JI7]

1. One thing on top of another for people that live in many of these countries

[Warpy]

2. This must've been a place that was used for another purpose

and converted to a Covid center because the big hospitals in Baghdad as well as elsewhere use liquid O2 brought in by tanker.

I've never seen an O2 tank explode, but I did see a dropped one rocket through a concrete wall. No one got hurt, the second wall stopped it. Tanks have to be handled fairly gently, dropping them on their heads leads to bad things.

It sounds like there might have been a fire first, always a concern in any area O2 is being used. Clothing, bedding (and people) sturated with o2 don't burn, they pretty much explode into fire. The smallest spark from any source can do it.

There's a short video at BBC that shows fire in the windows before a tank exploded,

I can't imagine what those poor families must be going through, already frantic because of Covid and now this.