BAGHDAD: A disastrous explosion struck Ibn al-Khatib hospital in Baghdad, Iraq – claiming 82 lives and injuring an additional 110 people. The mishap occurred due to a fire breaking out in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of Ibn al-Khatib hospital. The fire spread rapidly due to ailing infrastructure and across multiple floors. Civil defence firefighters rushed to combat the blaze as patients and their family members tried fleeing from the inferno in the hospital.

The civil defence blamed the lack of any fire fighting systems and the use of false ceilings and other flammable materials for the rapid spread of the flames. According to medical sources, the fire started due to improper storage of Oxygen cylinders in the hospital.

This tragedy has led to an outrage among the citizens of Iraq, who petitioned that the Health Minister be held accountable. The Prime Minister of Iraq, Mustafa al-Kadhemi responded by suspending the Health Minister, Hassan al-Tamimi, simultaneously calling for “an immediate investigation with those in charge at the ministry” and demanded that the “hospital director, head of security and the technical maintenance team be sent to the investigators and not be released until those at fault have been brought to justice”.

This unfortunate event highlighted the endemic corruption, negligence and poor state of infrastructure of the Iraqi healthcare system.