PHOTOS: Iraqis light candles in memory of Nasiriyah hospital inferno victims

Halgurd Sherwani 2021/07/14 10:48

A young man light up candles for a vigil in mourning for the victims of a fire that swept through a COVID-19 coronavirus isolation, July 14, 2021. (Photo: Asaad Niazi/AFP)

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – People in Nasiriyah on Tuesday night lit candles to honor the victims of the Nasiriyah hospital fire which killed at least 64 people on the hospital’s COVID-19 ward.

The fire at al-Hussein Teaching Hospital comes two months after a similar blaze in a Baghdad hospital killed 81 people and injured over 100 others less than three months earlier. Both fires are believed to have been started by exploding oxygen tanks.

A woman lights up candles for a vigil in mourning for the victims of the fire, July 14, 2021. (Photo: Asaad Ziadi/AFP)

Al-Hussein’s COVID-19 ward had 70 beds for people with the most severe cases of coronavirus infection, of which Iraq has recently recorded its highest numbers of the year. Victims of the fire include medics and family members who rushed in to save their loved ones.

People light up candles for a vigil in mourning for the victims of the fire, July 14, 2021. (Photo: Asaad Ziadi/AFP)

Statements of condolence and solidarity have poured in from around Iraq and the world, including the United Nations.

Blankets are strewn among burnt hospital beds at the ravaged coronavirus isolation ward of Al-Hussein hospital, July 13, 2021. (Photo: Asaad Ziadi/AFP)

The Kurdistan Region’s top officials have offered assistance to victims and health workers, and have sent liquefied oxygen to Nasiriyah to fulfill the high demand.

A man reacts at the ravaged coronavirus isolation ward of Al-Hussein hospital after a massive fire overnight, July 13, 2021. (Photo: Asaad Ziadi/AFP)

Authorities in Iraq have detained a number of people over the fire, including the Dhi Qar province health director and head of the hospital.