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World Service,4 mins

Iraq hospital fire: 'They had to cut the oxygen to those who needed it most'

Newshour

Available for over a year

At least 82 people have been killed in a fire at a hospital treating coronavirus patients in the capital of Iraq, Baghdad. More than 100 others were injured in the blaze, which erupted at the Ibn Khatib hospital on Saturday night. Reports say an accident had caused an oxygen tank to explode, sparking the blaze. Videos on social media show firefighters scrambling to extinguish the flames as people flee the building. Iraq's Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi on Sunday suspended the health minister and ordered an investigation into the tragedy. Iraq's hospitals have been pushed to the limit during the coronavirus pandemic, adding to the strains wrought by years of war, neglect and corruption. Covid infections have been rising steeply since February in Iraq, and the total passed the one-million mark this week. Halla Sarraf is the executive director of Iraqi Health Access, a non-governmental organisation working in the Iraqi health sector. She tells the 麻豆社's James Coomarasamy that many of the deaths were among the Covid patients dependent on oxygen: "Once the fire started somebody needed to put the O2 central pipes off, which basically means cutting the oxygen to those who need it most and that led to the worst casualties." Photo shows: Aftermath of a fire at Ibn Al-Khatib Hospital, south of Baghdad, Iraq, 25 April 2021. Credit: EPA

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