According to Iraqi authorities, Monday's fire started with a short circuit in electronic equipment, but a health care representative told the news agency AP that it was when an oxygen bottle exploded that the course of the fire took off in earnest.
At least 92 people died.
The fire was the second of its kind in the country in just a few months, provoking protests against corruption and mismanagement of health care in Iraq.
As early as January, the European Commission's Research Center (JRC) warned that the number of oxygen-related fires increased markedly during the pandemic.
Because oxygen is used in the care of seriously ill covid patients, significantly more fire-maintaining gas is in circulation, which entails greater risks.
Takes height also in Sweden
Even in Sweden, hospitals have had to take the risks into account, even though strict rules and routines must minimize the probability of accidents even when oxygen is used at normal levels in healthcare.
- It has been an extraordinary event, says Charles Fay, business area manager for property development and service at Karolinska University Hospital.
So how is oxygen related to the many hospital fires? Listen to SVT's review in the clip above.