Fire From Oxygen Tank Blast in Baghdad COVID-19 Hospital Kills 82

Fire From Oxygen Tank Blast in Baghdad COVID-19 Hospital Kills 82
People gather inside Ibn Khatib hospital after a fire caused by an oxygen tank explosion in Baghdad, Iraq, on April 25, 2021. Thaier Al-Sudani/Reuters
Reuters
Updated:

BAGHDAD—A fire caused by an oxygen tank explosion at a COVID-19 hospital in Baghdad took at least 82 lives and forced some people to leap through windows out of the burning building, witnesses and authorities said on Sunday.

As rescuers combed the smoke-charred building, Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi blamed negligence and suspended his Health Minister Hassan al-Tamimi pending an inquiry into Saturday’s blaze at the Ibn Khatib hospital.