UPDATE - Death toll from fire in COVID ward of Iraqi hospital rises to 41

Firefighters have brought blaze at hospital in Nasiriya city under control, according to civil defense forces

By Haydar Karaalp

BAGHDAD (AA) - The number of people who were killed in a fire that engulfed the COVID-19 isolation ward of a hospital in southern Iraq has risen to 41, the Iraqi Health Ministry said early Tuesday.

Five more people lost their lives in the fire that broke out at Al-Hussein Hospital in Nasiriya city in Dhi Qar governorate, the ministry said in a statement.

The fire was caused by the misuse of oxygen cylinders, it added.

Local civil defense forces announced that firefighters had brought the blaze under control.

A previous statement said that five others were injured in the fire.

Earlier Monday, a fire broke out on the fourth floor of the Ministry of Health in central Baghdad.

Kaynak: