At least 21 people died on Saturday evening, April 24, in an explosion and subsequent fire at a clinic for patients with coronavirus in southern Baghdad, and 40 others were injured.
According to the portal Baghdad Today, a storage room with oxygen cylinders exploded in the hospital. The building was almost completely burned out from the inside. More than 20 fire brigades were involved in extinguishing the fire.
According to the sources of the publication, the number of victims may increase, since the fire has not yet been localized, and the rescue operation continues. According to eyewitnesses, when the fire broke out, panic began in the hospital.
At the time of the explosion, according to the civil defense and emergency services, there were about 120 people in the hospital. About 90 were saved.
Earlier, on April 23, it was reported that a fire in a hospital for patients with COVID-19 in Mumbai, India, killed at least 13 people. According to preliminary data, the incident occurred in the intensive care unit due to an explosion in an air conditioning unit.