The Health Directorate of Dhi Qar Governorate, southern Iraq, reported that the number of people killed in the fire that broke out in Al Hussein Hospital in Nasiriyah has risen to 92 dead and 110 injured, while the circle of protests against the political class and the deterioration of the health sector has expanded.

And the Iraqi News Agency reported the issuance of judicial orders to arrest and investigate 13 officials in the Dhi Qar Health Department, including the director of the department.

Al-Jazeera correspondent had reported the resignation of the Director of Health in Dhi Qar from his position against the background of the hospital fire.

Pictures of dozens of corpses were shown lying in the hospital, at a time when the authorities were trying to identify the identities of their owners before handing them over to their relatives who had gathered in the place since the fire broke out. Some of the corpses have already been handed over, in an atmosphere dominated by sadness and anger.

Hundreds of Iraqis from Dhi Qar Governorate, south of Baghdad, demonstrated against what they described as poor services and negligence.

Hundreds of protesters gathered in Al-Haboubi Square, the protest square, in the center of Nasiriyah, raising slogans denouncing corruption and demanding accountability for the negligent health sector in the governorate.

Protesters closed private hospitals and health centers in the city of Nasiriyah, southern Iraq, in protest against the fire at Al-Hussein Hospital, which left dozens dead and wounded.

The protesters prevented teams working in these health centers from carrying out their work, and chanted slogans denouncing the poor health services, and the failure to secure these hospitals, as they described.

At the city mortuary, feelings of anger spread among the citizens who gathered while waiting to receive the bodies of their relatives.

"There was no quick response to the fire, and there weren't enough firefighters," said Mohamed Fadel, who was waiting in front of the mortuary to receive his brother's body. "The patients died of burns, it is a disaster."

Police and civil defense authorities said an investigation revealed that the fire started when sparks from damaged wires caused an oxygen tank in the hospital to explode.

Enforcement teams used a heavy crane to remove the charred and molten remains from a part of the city's Al Hussein Hospital designated to treat people infected with the Corona virus, while relatives of the victims were gathering nearby.

Despite the collection of some bodies for burial and mourners crying next to the shrouds, DNA tests are still needed on the remains of more than 20 badly charred bodies to identify their owners.

Arrest warrants for 13 officials

Today, Tuesday, the Dhi Qar Governorate Appeals Court in southern Iraq issued arrest warrants against 13 officials in the governorate's health directorate, including the director of the general department.

According to a statement issued by the Integrity Investigation Court in Dhi Qar (which is affiliated with the Supreme Judicial Council), 13 arrest warrants were issued against officials in the Governorate Health Department in Dhi Qar, including the director of the department, Saddam al-Taweel, against the background of the fire that broke out in Al-Hussein Teaching Hospital, according to a statement. The official news agency (INA).

The statement did not provide additional details about the names and positions of the officials against whom arrest warrants were issued.

Al-Kazemi: An urgent need for a comprehensive administrative reform

Today, Tuesday, Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi said that his country urgently needs to launch a comprehensive administrative reform process, against the backdrop of dozens of deaths in a hospital fire in the south of the country.

Al-Kazemi said on the sidelines of the cabinet meeting in Baghdad, "Today we stand before our people and the families of the martyrs in particular, to say that the responsibility that surrounds us prompted each time to take great steps to address the imbalance and hold the abuser accountable, and this is what we will do in the case of Al-Hussein University Hospital in Nasiriyah (the governorate center). Dhi Qar), for the sake of victory for the blood of the fallen martyrs.

Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi promised to reveal the results of the investigation into the incident within a week, and he also ordered yesterday evening, Monday, after an emergency meeting with a number of his government officials, to arrest a number of local officials until the investigation into the Al-Hussein Hospital fire is completed.

Al-Kazemi’s order included the director of Dhi Qar health, the hospital director, and the director of the civil defense in the province, and he also ordered the announcement of official mourning for the lives of the victims, without specifying specific days.

The governor of Dhi Qar, Ahmed Ghani Al-Khafaji, ordered yesterday evening, Monday, the formation of a committee to investigate the circumstances of the fire, to submit its final report within 48 hours, as announced mourning in the province, and the suspension of official working hours for a period of 3 days, starting from Tuesday.

This is the second tragedy of its kind in Iraq in 3 months. In April, a similar explosion in a Baghdad hospital treating “Covid-19” patients killed at least 82 and injured 110 others.

failed government

On Tuesday, Iraqi President Barham Salih blamed corruption for the two incidents, and a statement issued by the Prime Minister's Office called for public mourning.

Saleh said on Twitter that "the catastrophe of Al-Hussein Hospital, and before that, Ibn Al-Khatib Hospital in Baghdad, is the result of persistent corruption and mismanagement that underestimate the lives of Iraqis and prevent the reform of the performance of institutions."

He added, "The difficult investigation and accountability for the negligent is the consolation of our martyrs and their families. A strict review of the performance of institutions and the protection of citizens is necessary."

move in parliament

In the same context, Iraqi parliamentary sources said that parliamentary blocs began collecting enough signatures from members of parliament to question the prime minister over the fire incident at Al-Hussein Hospital in Nasiriyah.

The sources added that the "Sadiquon" bloc, led by the head of the Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq movement, Qais al-Khazali, had adopted this endeavor, and that its members had already begun collecting enough signatures of members of Parliament for the purpose of questioning the prime minister.

The Iraqi constitution stipulates that 50 signatures of members of the House of Representatives must be collected for the purpose of questioning the prime minister.

The Iraqi parliament had devoted its regular session today, Tuesday, to discussing the circumstances of the fire incident in Al-Hussein Hospital.

Outer consolation and inner anger

Foreign countries and governments offered their condolences to Iraq after the tragedy, and the incident provoked angry reactions and positions from a number of Iraqi political and human rights forces.

The Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Hassan Al-Kaabi, called on the government to open an immediate investigation to reveal the causes of the fire incident, put an end to the recurring series of tragic fires in state departments, and expedite the accountability of all negligent people.

Al-Kaabi said, in a statement, that Parliament will dedicate its scheduled session later on Tuesday to discuss the causes and repercussions of the hospital fire.

For its part, the "Sairoon" coalition (the largest parliamentary bloc: 54 out of 329 seats), said that the federal government must take its real role in protecting the lives of citizens, and the least it can do is to reveal the malicious hands that caused this humanitarian catastrophe and hold them accountable. .

Ali al-Bayati, head of the Human Rights Commission, a semi-official institution in Iraq, said Monday's explosion shows the extent to which safety measures have collapsed in the country's health system, which is paralyzed by war and sanctions.

Al-Bayati added that the recurrence of such a tragic incident after a few months means that sufficient security and safety measures have not been taken to prevent such incidents.

Iraq has limited and dilapidated infrastructure in various sectors, including the health sector, due to decades of successive wars, the instability of the security situation and rampant corruption in the country.