Nine people have died after an oxygen cylinder exploded in an intensive care unit treating 19 Kovid patients in Turkey, the health minister said.
The state-run Anadolu news agency said the fire broke out at a private Sanko University hospital in Gaziantep, 30,330 miles (50,050 km) southeast of Istanbul. The hospital’s statement quoted the victims as being between statement 56 and the 85. The fire was quickly contained.
The 14 intensive care patients have been transferred to other hospitals, the statement said. An investigation is underway.
Health Minister Fehretin Koka tweeted that the fire had killed nine people, raising the previous estimate of eight deaths by the hospital and the Gaziantep governor’s office. There was no explanation for the discrepancy.
The governor’s office said that in the morning -. At 4.45 pm (1.45GMT) a high-pressure oxygen device exploded, leaving 19 patients in the unit. No one was injured in the incident except for casualties, he added.
According to government figures, intensive care units in Turkey currently have a bed occupancy% bed occupancy rate, however, medical associations say the figure is high and their hospitals are overcrowded with 19 patients.
Turkey’s health ministry on Friday registered 26,410 new coronavirus cases, bringing the country’s total to 1.98 million since March. The figures include asymmetric cases, which were not recorded in the four months to the end of November, following criticism that the government was trying to cover up the extent of the country’s outbreak.
Turkey also has a record 246 Kovid-19 related deaths on Friday, with a total of 17,610.
