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Ten Covid-19 patients died and others were in critical condition after a fire broke out in an intensive care unit in northeastern Romania today, a hospital spokesman said.
The fire broke out in the early afternoon in the intensive care unit of the hospital in the town of Piatra Neamt. It was controlled an hour later by the emergency services.
“Ten people have been declared dead and seven are in critical condition,” including a doctor, said hospital spokeswoman Irina Popa.
Eight of the victims died in the flames and two others were declared dead after their evacuation.
The doctor on duty, who tried to help the victims, suffered second and third degree burns on 80% of his body, the rescue service reported.
The cause of the fire was unclear and the attorney general opened an investigation into the tragedy. The Health Ministry suggested that the fire could have been caused by an electrical short circuit.
The local prefect set up a crisis cell and Health Minister Nelu Tataru was expected to visit the site.
Largely safe during the first wave of the coronavirus in Europe, Romania has seen a growing number of cases and hospitalizations in the last weekly.
Today, it reported 129 deaths from new viruses, bringing the total deaths to 8,813 since the start of the pandemic.
The country of 19 million people is one of the poorest in the European Union and is ill-equipped to cope with an increase in hospital cases.
Its deteriorating health system suffers from a serious shortage of doctors, especially in small towns.
It was the deadliest fire in Romania since October 2015, when a pyrotechnic display set a fire in a Bucharest nightclub that left 64 people dead.
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