The city of Nasiriyah yesterday has witnessed a horrific fire incident that broke out at Al-Naqa Center in Al-Hussein Hospital, which is designated to isolate those infected with Covid (19), that took the lives of (62) of the patients, and 22 bodies of them are still unknown because they were charred.
More than (100) patients, escorts, and medical staff working in the above-mentioned center were injured in the fire, immediately after the accident, the volunteers of the Iraqi Red Crescent (IRCS) have rushed to transport the wounded in ambulances, and they were able to evacuate a number of them and treat more than (20) wounded in the field.
The director of Thi Qar branch in the Iraqi Red Crescent, Mr. Amer Hamid, said, “The volunteer teams have rushed to transport the wounded in the ambulances of the IRCS in a short time after the fire broke out, and they have managed to treat several cases in the field before transferring them to receive treatment in other hospitals.”
The IRCS has also transferred more than (21) of the charred bodies of victims to the hospital beds.
The people who are in the field describe the effects of the destruction caused by the fire as catastrophic, as the collapse of the roof of the building led to the burial of the victims under the rubble, and the volunteers expect that 10 of the victims’ bodies are still under the rubble.
Mr. Noureddin Ahmed, the health coordinator of the IRCS has said, “The IRCS’s teams are now striving to retrieve the bodies of the victims from under the rubble while facing great difficulties in the search process for the complete collapse of the building.”
As a result of the transfer of patients in Al-Hussein Hospital to other hospitals in the city, the need for medical supplies and equipment to assist the injured and treat the ill increased.
The IRCS has provided equipment and supplies to Al-Haboubi Hospital, which was overcrowded with COVID-19 patients and wounded.
The director of the Thi Qar branch of the IRCS has also said, “The IRCS has provided some necessary medical supplies for Al-Haboubi Hospital, including oxygen dispensers, glucose meters, and medical thermometers to support the hospital in the process of providing health services to the patients and wounded”.