Iraq: Oxygen cylinder explosion takes over 20 lives in Covid ICU

According to Iraq’s Civil Defence, the horrific blaze spread quickly as the hospital had no fire protection system following which the false ceilings allowed the massive fire to spread to highly flammable products.

The hospital had been fully equipped to house COVID-19 patients and reportedly, the majority of the victims died because they had to be moved and were taken off ventilators, while the others were suffocated by the smoke.

“The fire was under control by the early hours of Sunday morning,” said Iraq's Civil Defence.

As per sources the fire was caused by negligence of medical staff and sparked anger on social media in Iraq, with a hashtag demanding the health minister be sacked trending on Twitter.

Following the unfortunate incident the Prime Minister of Iraq Mustafa Al-Kadhimi called for an investigation into the cause of the blaze.

Videos on social media sites showed firefighters trying to extinguish flames at the hospital.

The fire caused many of the oxygen tanks designated to support the #COVID19 patients in the hospital to explode. #Baghdad so far dozens of victims have been reported. pic.twitter.com/OAC8Jt3jq3

— Steven Nabil (@thestevennabil) April 24, 2021

الشعب ينقذ الشعب في #مستشفى_ابن_الخطيب من نيران فساد #وزير_الصحه ووكلائه ..

#اقالة_وزير_الصحة pic.twitter.com/hw5pxD0bUa

— Yasser Eljuboori (@YasserEljuboori) April 24, 2021

العتب على حكام العرب اطالوا عمر حكومة الكاظمي الفاسدة ...ودماء الابرياء الذين فارقوا الحياة بأناقكم وانتم مسؤولون امام الله #حريق_مستشفى_ابن_الخطيب pic.twitter.com/XGxC6ZX61t

— ☆بغداد المنصورة☆ (@dptKmdJeLLWVpBQ) April 25, 2021

Last week, the number of Covid-19 cases in the country surpassed one million, the highest of any Arab state.

The injured and patients who weren't badly hurt were shifted to nearby hospitals.

Moreover, the health ministry has recorded a total of 1,025,288 cases of the disease and 15,217 deaths since global outbreak began.

Furthermore, Iraq has launched its vaccination campaign last month and received nearly 650,000 doses. As of Wednesday, 274,343 people had received at least one dose of novel coronavirus.