At least 92 dead in Iraq after fire sweeps through coronavirus ward

Investigations continue but the blaze is believed to have been sparked by a fault in an electrical cable

The death toll from a fire that tore through a coronavirus ward in an Iraq hospital has risen to 92, health officials said, as authorities faced accusations of negligence from grieving relatives and a doctor who works there.

More than 100 people were also injured in the blaze on Monday night in Nassiriya, officials said.

The ward, just three months old, contained 70 beds, according to the hospital authorities.

A local cameraman, Asaad, who arrived shortly after the fire broke out, told The Independent it was started by an electrical fault in the air-conditioning unit and was made worse by oxygen cylinders which are likely to have exploded.

He said people tried to escape through a back door in the ward but it was locked trapping them inside the inferno, although this has not yet been verified by authorities. He added: “This ward doesn’t have fire extinguishers or any fire safety measures. Some bodies are burned beyond recognition. The only way to identify them is through DNA samples. The fire department did what they could… they have no equipment.”

Reuters reported that the rescue workers were carrying charred bodies of the victims out of the hospital, while several others coughed incessantly because of the thick smoke.

Locals told The Independent that one family – called Rashid – had lost 6 members.

Hospital guard Ali Muhsin was quoted as saying: “I heard a big explosion inside the coronavirus wards and then the fire had erupted very quickly.”

Major general Khalid Bohan, head of Iraq’s civil defence, told local media that the hospital was constructed from “flammable materials” and was thus “prone to fire”.

Families of the fire victims began protesting outside the hospital asking for justice. Protesters clashed with the police and set two police vehicles on fire.

Activists in Nasiriyah told The Independent protesters have set up tents preparing for a sit-in in Habbobi Square

President Barham Salih condemned the mismanagement and corruption pervading the nation’s health institutions on social media.

Prime minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi has ordered the arrest of the hospital’s head.

The parliament’s speaker, Mohamed al-Halbousi, wrote on social media that the fire was, “clear proof of the failure to protect Iraqi lives and it is time to put an end to this catastrophic failure”.

The incident has turned the media’s attention to the mismanagement and negligence of authorities in several hospitals, pointing out lax safety rules “especially around oxygen cylinders”.

This is the second time during the pandemic when a fire has blazed through a hospital in the country.

At least 82 coronavirus patients were killed when a fire engulfed a Covid-19 ward at Ibn al-Khateeb hospital in Baghdad in April. Reports said an oxygen tank explosion had led to the fire.

Iraq’s healthcare system is struggling to cope with a severe Covid-19 wave that has caused more than a million infections and 17,592 deaths. Just last week there were 9,000 positive cases in one day.