Death toll in Iraq COVID hospital fire reaches 52

The fire broke out at the Al-Hussein hospital in the southern Iraqi city late Monday and was brought under control hours later by local civil defence forces.

An official stated, “Early Tuesday 52 bodies were retrieved and another 22 people were wounded in the latest toll, after the fire had ripped through the Covid isolation ward".

“The victims died of burns and the search is continuing," he added.

The ward had space for 70 beds and opened just three months ago, said two medical officials.

An official stated that, the fire was caused by an electric short circuit, while another health official said, the fire erupted when an oxygen cylinder exploded.

However, the Health Ministry has not provided an official account of the cause of the fire.

The deadly hospital blaze is the second such fire in Iraq in three months.

The fire also prompted furious calls on social media for the resignation of top officials.

Earlier on Monday, a minor fire broke out at the health ministry’s headquarters in Baghdad, but it was quickly contained with no fatalities recorded.

Since the coronavirus vaccine rollout began in March, Iraq have fully inoculated around one percent of the country’s roughly 40 million people.