82 Die In Baghdad COVID-19 Hospital Fire (Pictures)

[Edoman]

Eighty-two people died and 110 were injured at a Baghdad hospital that had been equipped to house COVID-19 patients, an Interior Ministry spokesman said on Sunday.

“We urgently need to review safety measures at all hospitals to prevent such a painful incident from happening in future,” spokesman Khalid al-Muhanna told state television, while updating the toll.

The fire erupted on Saturday night at the Ibn Khatib hospital in the Diyala Bridge area.

Ali Bayati, a member of Iraq’s semi-official High Commission for Human Rights, had said earlier a final death toll had not yet been officially announced but it could be between 30 to 45.

Patients’ relatives scrambled during the blaze to save their loved ones.

A man who had been visiting his brother described people jumping out of windows to escape.

“The fire spread, like fuel … I took my brother out to the street, next to the checkpoint. Then I came (back) and went up from there. To the last floor, that did not burn.

“I found a girl suffocating, about 19 years old, she was suffocating, she was about to die,” said Ahmed Zaki.

“I took her on my shoulders and I ran down. People were jumping… Doctors fell on the cars. Everyone was jumping. And I kept going up from there, got people and come down again,” Zaki said.

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The UN reacts

The Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Iraq, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, expresses shock and pain at the enormity of the tragic incident that befell COVID-19 patients at the Ibn Khatib hospital in Baghdad Saturday night.

She offers her deepest condolences to the families of those who lost their lives and wishes the injured a full and speedy recovery.
The Special Representative calls for stronger protection measures to ensure that such a disaster cannot reoccur.

The UN continues to provide critical support to Iraq's health sector amid the pandemic and surging infections, and stands ready to further assist the health authorities in combating the disease.

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Iraq's healthcare system, already ruined by decades of sanctions, war and neglect, has been stretched during the coronavirus crisis.

On Wednesday, the number of Covid-19 cases in Iraq surpassed one million, the highest of any Arab state.

The health ministry has recorded 15,217 deaths since the country's first infections were reported in February 2020.

It has said it carries out around 40,000 tests daily from a population of 40 million.

Those patients who can often prefer to source oxygen tanks for treatment at home, rather than go to overcrowded and run-down hospitals.

The country launched its vaccination campaign last month, and has received nearly 650,000 doses of different vaccines - the majority by donation or through the Covax programme, which is helping lower and middle income nations to procure vaccines.

As of Wednesday, 274,343 people had received at least one dose, the ministry said.

Iraqi's PM declares 3 days of national mourning
At least 82 people have been killed and dozens more injured after a blaze broke out in a Covid ward of a Baghdad hospital. Iraq's Prime Minister, Mustafa al-Khadem, has called for an investigation into the cause of the blaze and declared three days of national mourning.

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Iraqi PM Kadhimi fires health Minister, others; sets up investigation panel

The Prime Minister @MAKadhimi chairs the special session of the Council of Ministers devoted to discussing the tragic accident in Ibn Al-Khatib Hospital and decides the following:

First/
1- An investigation is conducted under the chairmanship of the Minister of Interior, and the membership of each of the following:

A - Minister of Planning

B - Minister of Justice

C - President of the Integrity Commission.

D - President of the Federal Office of Financial Supervision

E- A representative of the House of Representatives / an observer member

2- Investigation into the Ibn Al-Khatib Hospital fire accident, identifying the negligent persons and holding them accountable.

3- He withdraws the hand of the Minister of Health and refers him to investigation.

4- The hand of the Governor of Baghdad is withdrawn and he is referred for investigation.

5- The hand of the General Director of the Rusafa Health Department is withdrawn and referred for investigation.

6- The above investigation is completed within five days, and the report is submitted to the Council of Ministers, and experts in the field of interior and health may be sought.

Iraqi Prime Minister, Mustafa al-Kadhimi

Baghdad fire: Iraqi's President reacts
The tragedy of Ibn Al-Khatib Hospital is the wound of the whole nation, and as a result of the accumulated destruction of state institutions as a result of corruption and mismanagement. Showing pain and sympathy with our martyrs and injured sons is not enough without strenuous accountability for the negligent, and without conducting a comprehensive and serious review of the performance of institutions to ensure that such disasters do not recur.

Iraqi President, Barham Salih

Baghdad Fire: Statement by US National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan

We mourn the loss of lives in the fire at Ibn al-Khatib Hospital in Baghdad. We are in touch with Iraqi officials and have offered assistance. Our Strategic partnership with Iraq is first and foremost a partnership between our two peoples. We are prepared to support the Government of Iraq and its people at this tragic moment.

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UNICEF extends its deepest condolences and sympathy to the families of those who lost their lives and those injured due to the fire that ocucrred at Ibn Al-Khatib Hospital in #Baghdad.

UNICEF in Iraq

The High Commission for Human Rights in Iraq offers its deepest condolences to the families of the victims of the tragedy of Ibn Al-Khatib Hospital, and wishes mercy and eternity to the souls of the martyrs and a speedy recovery for the injured.

IHCHR