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A devastating fire at Baghdad hospital for coronavirus patients has killed at least 80 people and injured more than 100, according to the Iraqi Interior Ministry, which has sparked allegations of corruption and neglect at the health ministry. when he faced the pandemic.
The blaze was sparked Saturday night by an oxygen bomb that exploded and blew up Ibn al-Khatib hospital within minutes, the Associated Press reported. A doctor who witnessed the scene told the news agency that the blast resembled “volcanoes of fire.”
Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi has called for the investigation into the tragedy to be completed in five days and has suspended the health minister, the governor of Baghdad and the district health director of Al Rusafa. He pledged to hold those responsible for “negligence” accountable.
Despite being OPEC’s second-largest oil producer, Iraq is plagued by abandoned infrastructure, a legacy of sanctions against dictator Saddam Hussein in the 1990s, followed by years of chaos after his overthrow.
The hospital had been dedicated to coronavirus patients. Iraq, like many countries in the region, has struggled to control the pandemic. The disease has killed more than 15,000 Iraqis since the beginning of the pandemic, according to health ministry data.
Ali al-Bayati, a member of Iraq’s High Commission on Human Rights, which monitors civilian casualties, said 28 people in the hospital room had fans. “Corruption and problems inside [the health] the ministry is really deep, “Bayati told FT. He added that successive ministers overlooked failures and negligence in job security and called on Kadhimi to expand the investigation and” open the portfolio in full detail. ” .
Iraqi police at the entrance of the hospital. Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi pledged to blame those responsible for “negligence” © Ahmad Al-Rubaye / AFP via Getty
Major General Khaled al-Muhanna, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry, said on Sunday that the death toll in hospital fires had reached 82, with 110 injured. “Some victims died as a result of the fires and others were thrown from an elevated place,” he added, in comments published in the official media.
“Ninety percent of government institutions have not adhered to civil protection procedures and directed precautions [safeguarding] citizen[s]Said Muhanna.
Iraqi protesters have long complained of corruption and poor governance. Iraq’s Ministry of Health and Environment is controlled by the political party loyal to Muqtadr al-Sadr, the cleric and militia leader turned politician. Iraq plans to hold elections this fall.
The country’s accident record is evident in the lack of public responsibility. About 100 people died when a ferry sank in the northern city of Mosul last year.
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