At least 58 coronavirus patients have been killed after a devastating fire ripped through an isolation ward in Iraq. BBC News reports the blaze erupted at al-Hussein hospital in the city of Nasiriya, and some reports in Iraq have blamed the fire on an exploding oxygen tank. State media has put the rising death toll at 58, and around 70 other people have been hurt. According to the Associated Press, the ward was only built three months ago. Ali Muhsin, a hospital guard, told Reuters: “I heard a big explosion inside the coronavirus wards and then fire had erupted very quickly.” Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi has ordered the arrest of the hospital’s director, and angry protesters have started gathering at the scene. In April, more than 82 people died at a Baghdad hospital in another fire that was blamed on an exploding oxygen tank.
