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More than 20 people died in a fire in an intensive care unit for corona patients in the Iraqi capital Baghdad.

There are at least 23 fatalities and dozen injured, said security forces and medical staff on Sunday night.

The dpa news agency reports at least 20 dead, citing eyewitnesses.

According to security forces, the fire in the hospital was triggered by the explosion of improperly stored oxygen bottles.

Another possible cause could have been a short circuit.

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According to media reports, one of the oxygen cylinders had exploded, causing fire to spread in the station.

Firefighters soon got the flames under control.

Videos published on online networks showed the fire brigade trying to put out the flames in Ibn al-Khatib hospital on the southern edge of the Iraqi capital.

Patients and relatives tried to get out of the building to safety.

Smoke rose from several windows.

90 of 120 patients and their companions on the ward were rescued in the incident on Sunday night, said the head of the civil protection authority, Kadhim Buhan, according to a report by the state news agency INA.

The authority did not provide specific information on the number of dead and injured.

On Wednesday, the number of corona infections detected in Iraq jumped the one million mark.

So far, 15,217 corona deaths have been registered in the 40 million inhabitant country.

After decades of conflict, Iraq's hospitals are poorly equipped.