Iraqi PM blames corruption for deadly hospital fires

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Iraq’s prime minister this week blamed two recent deadly hospital fires in Iraq that killed scores of COVID-19 patients on endemic corruption in the country, saying in an interview that investigations are still underway.

Iraq recently witnessed two large fires in coronavirus treatment centers that killed at least 140 people and injured hundreds.

“Corruption, nepotism, and political appointments of employees in sensitive positions, are the main reasons behind these incidents,” Mustafa al-Kadhimi said in an interview with Arabic news channel Al-Hadath that aired on Sunday.

Observers and Iraqi firefighters blame the highly inflammable structure of the wards as responsible for the high casualties both infernos caused. Top health officials have resigned or been removed from their posts, including the health minister, Hassan al-Tamimi, who quit after the first deadly fire in the capital in April.

More than 80 people died when the COVID-19 ward at the Ibn al-Khatib Hospital in Baghdad burst into flames, believed to be caused by exploding oxygen cylinders.

A fire last week at al-Hussein Teaching Hospital in the southern city of Nasiriyah killed at least 60 people, although initial reports put the number closer to 100. An exploding oxygen container was blamed for that fire as well.

Iraq’s ongoing electricity crisis has also led to hospital deaths. On Sunday, family members of a man who died in a northern Baghdad hospital after a power outage shut off his ventilator attacked the facility.

In addition to the catastrophic fires, Iraq has faced a renewed wave of COVID-19 infections, this time exacerbated by the Delta variant and sluggish vaccination drive in the country. Recently, the country recorded the highest daily infections this year with nearly 10,000 confirmed cases.