The death toll from a catastrophic blaze at a hospital in southern Iraq has risen to 92, the Iraqi state news agency has reported. Two health officials said more than 100 other people were injured in the fire, which swept through the coronavirus ward of the Al-Hussein Teaching Hospital in the city of Nasiriyah on Monday. It was the second catastrophic fire in fewer than three months to kill Covid-19 hospital patients in Iraq, where the health care system has been crippled by decades of war and sanctions. It is the second time a large fire has killed coronavirus patients in an Iraqi hospital this year. After decades of war and sanctions, Iraq’s health sector has struggled to contain the virus.

Source: Irish Independent July 13, 2021 07:51 UTC