At least 82 people have been killed in a fire at a hospital treating coronavirus patients in the capital of Iraq, Baghdad.
Reports say more than 100 others were injured in the fire, which started at the Ibn Khatib hospital on Saturday night.
According to reports, an accident had caused an oxygen tank to explode, sparking the blaze.
Iraq’s Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi called for an immediate investigation into the causes of what he called a “tragic accident”.
The head of Iraq’s Civil Defence, Gen Kadhim Bohan, said the fire had broken out in the hospital’s intensive-care unit, on a floor “designated for pulmonary resuscitation”.
About “30 patients were in the intensive care unit”, which was reserved for the most severe cases of Covid-19 in Baghdad, a hospital source told the AFP news agency.
All patients have been taken to nearby hospitals.
