The director and four officials of the Al-Salt public hospital near Amman have been taken into custody after seven COVID-19 patients died in intensive care following an oxygen supply failure in the establishment, said a judicial source.
For the purposes of the investigation and to determine responsibilities, the Salt prosecutor decided to arrest them for a week, the Amman attorney general said in a statement on Saturday.
These deaths have aroused great emotion in the country and the anger of King Abdullah II in the midst of the resurgence of the coronavirus epidemic in the country.
The king went to the hospital on Saturday, located 30 km from the capital. According to images broadcast on television, he had asked the director, Abdel Razak al-Khachman, to resign after expressing his dissatisfaction.
“How could such a thing happen here?” How come there is no oxygen in this hospital? This is unacceptable ! », Had launched the sovereign to the director.
According to the Minister of Health, Nazir Obeidat, who has since resigned, an oxygen supply failure occurred for nearly an hour in the hospital and “presumably resulted in the death” of the patients, four men and three women over 40 years old.
Mr. Obeidat was replaced by the Minister of the Interior, General Mazen Al-Faraya, pending the appointment of a new incumbent, according to a statement from the royal palace.
An extraordinary meeting of the Parliament and the Senate is due to take place on Sunday, according to the president of the Chamber of Deputies, Abdelmoneim Saleh.
“In these difficult times, institutions cannot tolerate negligence and error, especially in the treatment provided in hospitals,” he said.
Hundreds of people, including the families of the victims, demonstrated on Saturday in front of Al-Salt hospital, where 150 COVID-19 patients are being treated.
Jordan, a country of 10 million people which launched its vaccination campaign in January, has recorded more than 464,000 cases of coronavirus infection and more than 5,200 deaths.