tragedy is synonymous with neglect. A hospital dedicated to Covid-19 was the scene, in Baghdad (Iraq), of a tragedy: more than 80 people perished this Sunday, April 25, deprived of oxygen, suffocated by smoke or charred in a fire. Following this incident, several officials, including the Minister of Health, were suspended from their duties.
It all started before dawn with the explosion of oxygen cylinders “stored without respecting security conditions”, according to doctors at Ibn al-Khatib hospital. Then the flames devoured for hours of non-fireproof false ceilings under which patients on ventilators were brutally torn from their beds. According to a latest report from the Interior Ministry, “82 people were killed and 110 injured” in Baghdad. The health system in the Iraqi capital has been dilapidated for decades, a phenomenon that goes hand in hand in Iraq with rampant corruption.
Iraqis angry with their government
If the number of victims is so high, it is because the hospital was not equipped and because the firefighters did not immediately arrive at the hospital located on the remote outskirts of Baghdad. For hours, a crowd of patients and relatives tried to escape from the building, by narrow service stairs, helped only by many residents who came to lend a hand. After this tragedy, the hashtag Resignation of the Minister of Health, which has not been subscribed to since the fire, was at the top of the Twitter keywords in Iraq.
Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kazimi, who has proclaimed three days of national mourning, has responded halfway. He “suspended” and “made available to investigators” the Minister of Health Hassan al-Tamimi, a close friend of the very turbulent Shiite leader Moqtada al-Sadr. The same sanction was applied to the governor of Baghdad, Mohammed Jaber, and to the boss of Health for the east of Baghdad. “The results of this investigation will be presented to the government within five days,” according to a statement from Mr. Kazimi’s office.
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