26 April,2021 06:38 AM IST | Baghdad | Agencies
Iraqis transport the coffin of a relative who was killed during a fire at the Ibn al-Khatib hospital reserved for the most severe COVID-19 cases, in Baghdad, on Sunday. Pic/AFP
Iraq's Interior Ministry said on Sunday that 82 people died and 110 were injured in a catastrophic fire that broke out in the intensive care unit of a Baghdad hospital tending to severe Coronavirus patients.
A view shows the terrace of a closed restaurant on Saturday, on Piazza Navona in downtown Rome, two days prior to the partial reopening of bars, restaurants, cinemas and concert halls across Italy. Pic/AFP
Negligence on the part of hospital authorities has been blamed for the Saturday night fire, which initial reports suggest was caused when an oxygen cylinder exploded in the ward of Ibn al-Khatib hospital. Iraq's prime minister fired key hospital officials hours after the catastrophic incident.
Among the dead were at least 28 patients on ventilators battling severe symptoms of the virus, tweeted Ali al-Bayati, a spokesman of the country's independent Human Rights Commission. The commission is a semi-official body. Firefighters rushed to battle the flames that raged across the second floor of the hospital. Civil defense teams put out flames until the early hours of the morning. Ambulances transported dozens of wounded. The Health Ministry said at least 200 people were rescued from the scene.
Doctors at the scene were frazzled by the chaos unfolding around them. They said numerous burned bodies were carried out by paramedics from the hospital floor. The fire came as Iraq grapples with a severe second wave of the Coronavirus pandemic. Daily virus cases now average around 8,000, the highest since Iraq began recording infection rates early last year. At least 15,200 people have died of Coronavirus in Iraq among a total of at least 100,000 confirmed cases. In response to the fire, Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi fired the director-general of the Baghdad Health Department in the al-Rusafa area, where the hospital is located. He also fired the director of Ibh al-Khatib Hospital and its director of engineering and maintenance, according to a statement from the Health Ministry and his office. After the fire first broke out, Al-Khadhimi held an emergency meeting at the headquarters of the Baghdad Operations Command, which coordinates Iraqi security forces, according to a statement on his Twitter account. In the meeting he said the incident amounted to negligence.
A video grab shows Iraqi firefighters battling flames at the hospital. Pic/AFP
Airfares on India-US flights have increased significantly since the American government's advisory to its citizens to avoid travelling to India due to a recent surge in COVID-19 cases, aviation industry sources said on Sunday. Average fare for an economy class ticket on an India-US flight is around '50,000, but the fares for this week's flights are hovering around '1.5 lakh, the sources mentioned. High demand for tickets on India-US flights after the advisory on Thursday has led to the spike in fares, they said.
Italy's COVID-19 vaccine rollout hit a major milestone, though it appeared unlikely the country would reach its end-of-month target for daily vaccinations. The country's Ministry of Health reported on Saturday that five million Italian residents had been fully vaccinated, making Italy the third EU member state to reach that milestone, following Germany and France, Xinhua news agency reported.
Around 4,000 people gathered near Zurich on Saturday for an unauthorised protest against Coronavirus containment measures, police said. The demonstration in Rapperswil-Jona was largely peaceful, but two people were detained and 45 others were banned from the city for a period of 24 hours, they said. Most participants were not wearing masks or maintaining a safe distance from one another.
Nepali authorities have issued record number of expedition permits for Mt. Qomolangma, defying expectations of reduced number of permit issuance compared to past years amid the pandemic. The Himalayan country issued a record 394 permits for the Mt. Qomolangma, the world's tallest peak by Friday, which broke the earlier record of 381 permits issued in 2019, according to the Department of Tourism, which issues such permits, Xinhua news agency reported on Saturday.
Chancellor Angela Merkel has urged Germans to accept nationwide pandemic restrictions that came into force at midnight, resulting in 10 pm-5 am curfews, further limits on personal contacts and access to non-essential stores in regions with high infection rates. In her weekly video address on Saturday, Merkel acknowledged the new rules are "tough" but insisted they are needed to curb the spread of the virus in the country.
8,49,130
No. of new cases reported globally in the past 24 hours
14,65,76,428
Total no. of cases worldwide
31,01,896
Total no. of deaths worldwide
Source: WHO/Johns Hopkins
