Covid-19: Fire ravages hospital in Iraq, 64 dead

At least 64 people have been killed in a fire at the coronavirus isolation ward of a hospital in Iraq, the second such deadly blaze in a COVID-19 unit in three months, state news agency INA said on Tuesday.

More than 100 were also injured in the fire that broke out at the al-Hussein Teaching Hospital in the southern city of Nasiriya late on Monday, health officials said. The blaze was brought under control by civil defence teams.

Haydar al-Zamili, the local health authority’s spokesperson, said earlier on Tuesday that 52 bodies had been retrieved while 22 people had been hurt after the fire had “ripped through the COVID isolation ward”.

“The victims died of burns and the search is continuing,” he added, noting that there were fears people could still be trapped inside the building.

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