A fireplace at a short lived hospital the place coronavirus sufferers had been being handled in North Macedonia has left not less than 14 individuals lifeless, the nation’s well being minister mentioned.
All 14 had been sufferers, and 12 others being handled on the heart suffered accidents within the hearth that broke out Wednesday night, the nation’s well being minister, Venko Filipce, mentioned. No well being staff had been reported injured what Mr. Filipce described as a “horrible accident.”
The hearth, which started at round 9 p.m. at a cell hospital in Tetovo, within the nation’s northwest, was extinguished inside 45 minutes, nevertheless it had unfold shortly by the constructing, one hearth official informed an area information outlet.
Footage from the scene confirmed a plume of black smoke rising as flames engulfed the hospital. Movies aired afterward native information confirmed hearth vehicles on the scene and wheelchairs scattered across the burnt-out shell of the construction, a one-story modular constructing.
The blaze was pushed partly by explosions, in response to the nation’s prime minister, Zoran Zaev, who instantly launched an investigation. The prime minister’s workplace mentioned the reason for the hearth had but to be decided.
Oxygen tanks getting used to deal with sufferers with extreme Covid-19 have been blamed for lethal fires at different coronavirus clinics around the globe. In July, not less than 39 individuals had been killed at a hospital in southern Iraq after an oxygen tank explosion in a ward the place Covid-19 sufferers had been being handled. In April, a fireplace attributable to an oxygen tank explosion at a coronavirus hospital in Baghdad killed not less than 82 individuals.
In an announcement posted on social media, Mr. Zaev known as the hearth a “nice tragedy” and supplied his condolences to the households of the lifeless.
“The hearth has been extinguished, however many lives have additionally been extinguished,” he mentioned, whereas including that emergency staff had executed their finest to save lots of lives.
He pledged that the authorities would decide the reason for the hearth, and famous that investigators had been already on the scene. “This can be a really tragic occasion and I can guarantee you that all the state management is dedicated to quickly resolving this example,” he mentioned.
North Macedonia, the place simply 27 p.c of about two million residents have been totally vaccinated, has seen a wave of coronavirus infections since August.
Since attaining independence 30 years in the past, North Macedonia has labored to develop its nationwide well being system, however specialists say that main challenges stay. In a 2018 report, the World Well being Group mentioned that the well being system suffered from underfunding, a scarcity of satisfactory tools and a scarcity of well being care staff.