Five die in fire at Romania’s main hospital for coronavirus patients in second such incident in three months
- Visiting the scene some hours after the blaze was put out, President Klaus Iohannis called the fire a ‘tragedy’
- Matei Bals hospital is Romania’s main infectious disease facility and has been on the front line since the coronavirus pandemic started
Romania was in shock on Friday after a fire broke out in the country’s main hospital for coronavirus patients, killing five in the second such incident in three months.
Emergency responders in capital Bucharest found three patients dead at the Matei Bals hospital and could not resuscitate a fourth, junior minister Raed Arafat told reporters.
The body of a fifth victim was later found in one of the bathrooms, Interior Minister Lucian Bode said.
Fire broke out on the hospital’s ground floor around 5am local time and soon reached four wards, while 102 patients had to be evacuated to other hospitals, fire chief Orlando Schiopu said.
We can’t go on like this … Although 6 per cent of GDP was given to the health care system last year, (only) a small part of the money went to investments.
Relatives of the patients gathered in front of the hospital demanding answers about their loved ones, as others were calling around the city’s hospitals in an attempt to track them down.
