DW News published this video item, entitled “Iraq hospital fire kills at least 64, injuring more than 100 | DW News” – below is their description.
A fire at a hospital in the city of Nasiriya 375 kilometers south of Baghdad in Iraq has left at least 64 people dead and more than 100 injured, Iraqi health officials said Monday.
The death toll could rise further, as some patients are still missing. Videos on social media showed the hospital engulfed in flames, with smoke coming out of the top of the building. Iraqi officials said the cause of the blaze at the al-Hussein Teaching Hospital was an electric short circuit. One health official from Dhi Qar province, where Nasiryah is located, said the fire was triggered by an oxygen tank explosion. The hospital’s 70-bed coronavirus ward opened just three months ago. A Facebook post from Iraq’s Interior Ministry said the blaze destroyed structures next to the main building of the healthcare facility. The country’s Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi convened his cabinet for an emergency meeting on the situation and to discuss the causes of the fire. Iraqis on social media demanded accountability for the blaze and called for the resignation of top officials.
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