According to the latest report from the Iraqi Interior Ministry, 82 people lost their lives and 110 were injured in the fire at a hospital dedicated to Covid-19 in Baghdad, the country's capital.
To avoid dilapidated hospitals, patients generally prefer to install an oxygen cylinder at their homes in Iraq.
More than 80 people perished on Sunday, deprived of oxygen, suffocated by smoke or charred in the fire of a hospital dedicated to Covid-19 in Baghdad, a tragedy born of negligence which caused the suspension of several officials including the health Minister.
It all started before dawn with the explosion of oxygen cylinders "stored without respecting security conditions", according to doctors at Ibn al-Khatib hospital.
Then, the flames devoured for hours on non-fireproof false ceilings under which patients on ventilators were brutally torn from their beds.
>> LIVE - Coronavirus: follow the evolution of the situation on Sunday April 25
Decades of dilapidated health care system
According to a latest report from the Ministry of the Interior, "82 people were killed and 110 injured" in the capital of a country whose health system has been dilapidated for decades. If the number of victims is so high, it is because the hospital was not equipped and because the firefighters did not immediately arrive at the hospital located on the remote outskirts of Baghdad. For hours, a crowd of patients and relatives tried to escape from the building, by narrow service stairs, helped only by many residents who came to lend a hand.
Amir, 35, said he "barely saved his brothers who were in the hospital. These are the people who took the wounded out."
"The hospital does not have a fire protection system and the false ceilings have allowed the fire to spread," said Civil Defense.
"Most of the victims died because they were displaced and deprived of ventilators. Others were suffocated by smoke."
Several leaders suspended
After this tragedy, the hashtag "Resignation of the Minister of Health", which has not been subscribed to since the fire, was at the top of the keywords on Twitter in Iraq. Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kazimi, who has proclaimed three days of national mourning, has responded halfway. He "suspended" and "made available to investigators" the Minister of Health Hassan al-Tamimi, a close friend of the very turbulent Shiite leader Moqtada Sadr. The same sanction was applied to the governor of Baghdad, Mohammed Jaber, and to the boss of Health for the east of Baghdad.
"The results of this investigation will be presented to the government within five days," according to a statement from Moustafa al-Kazimi's office.
The director of the hospital and the heads of security and technical maintenance at Ibn al-Khatib were summoned for questioning during the night.
A timid vaccination campaign has started in the country
Beyond the extremely heavy toll, the Iraqis have expressed their anger over the blaze's attribution to negligence. A phenomenon which goes hand in hand in Iraq with endemic corruption. President of the Iraqi Republic Barham Saleh has been very clear. "The Ibn al-Khatib tragedy is the result of years of undermining state institutions through corruption and mismanagement." The UN mission in Iraq expressed "its pain" and said it was "in shock", while Pope Francis, who was in Iraq in early March, called for "prayers" for the victims of the fire.
The cases of Covid-19 surpassed one million in Iraq (40 million inhabitants) on Wednesday, with more than 15,000 dead. The country, probably due to its young population, has a relatively low number of deaths from Covid-19. To avoid dilapidated hospitals, patients generally prefer to install an oxygen cylinder in their homes. A timid vaccination campaign was launched in early March in Iraq, where the population, who shuns masks, remains very skeptical. Out of nearly 650,000 doses of different vaccines - almost all received in the form of a donation or through the international Covax program - around 300,000 have already been administered.