ANKARA | A fire on Saturday at a hospital in Gaziantep, in southeastern Turkey, killed ten people, all of whom contracted COVID-19, the Turkish health minister said.
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The fire occurred in the intensive care unit of this facility dedicated to people suffering from this disease, following the explosion of an oxygen tube from a life support ventilator.
The other patients affected by the incident were transferred to other hospitals in the region.
“We are deeply saddened by this tragic event,” responded Fahrettin Koca, the Turkish Minister of Health, who visited the site.
Images released by the local press show an intensive care unit completely devastated, with charred beds.
Turkey has recorded more than two million cases of COVID-19, of which more than 17,600 have been fatal.
Faced with a surge in the number of cases of this disease, Turkey strengthened the measures in place at the end of November with the introduction of a total curfew during the weekend and partial during the week.