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ROMANIA-HOSPITAL-FIRE
Hospital fire kills four Covid-19 patients in Romania
BUCHAREST, Jan 29, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – At least four people died Friday after
a fire broke out in Romania’s main hospital treating Covid-19 patients,
officials told AFP.
Three patients were found dead at the Matei Bals hospital in Bucarest and a
fourth died despite attempts at resuscitation, state secretary of the
Ministry of Interior Raed Arafat told reporters.
The fire reportedly broke out on the ground floor around 5:00am (0300 GMT),
said Orlando Schiopu, head of the inspectorate for emergency situations.
Four wards were affected and 102 people had been evacuated and transferred
to other hospitals, he added.
Romania is still reeling from a similar tragedy in November, when ten
people suffering from Covid-19 died in a fire in an intensive care unit of a
hospital in the northeastern town of Piatra Neamt.
Five others injured in the fire later died of their injuries.
The prosecutor general has opened an enquiry into the tragedy, while the
health ministry has suggested the fire could have been caused by an
electrical short circuit.
The incident sparked wider safety warnings in a country marked by crumbling
infrastructure and a culture of makeshift repairs.
The country of 19 million is one of the poorest in the European Union and
is trying to manage the Covid-19 pandemic with a dilapidated and understaffed
health system.
BSS/AFP/GMR/1248 hrs