News

Covid hospital fire: 82 killed by exploding oxygen tank

Published

3 years ago

April 26, 2021

Natasha Schapova

An Iraqi covid hospital fire has killed at least 82 people and left 110 injured.

The fire was caused by an exploding oxygen tank at Ibn Khatib hospital in Iraq’s capital city, Baghdad.

About “30 patients were in the intensive care unit”, which was reserved for the most severe cases of Covid, a hospital source told the AFP news agency.

Emergency service officials said many patients died when they were taken off oxygen machines to be evacuated, while others were suffocated by smoke.

A fire that ravaged a Covid-19 hospital in Iraq’s capital Bagdad has left at least 82 people dead and 110 injured pic.twitter.com/XAjjPmoYqt

— TRT World (@trtworld) April 25, 2021

The Iraqi Prime Minister suspended the health minister over the fire.

The Iraqi PM referred the health minister to authorities for investigation.

The head of Iraq’s Civil Defence, Gen Kadhim Bohan, said the fire had broken out in the hospital’s intensive-care unit.

In a statement, the government’s human rights commission said the incident was “a crime against patients exhausted by Covid-19”.

“Once the fire started somebody needed to put the auto central pipes off, which means basically cutting the oxygen from those who need it most,” Halla Sarraf, the director of Iraqi Health Access, a non-governmental organisation, told the BBC.

The fire adds strain as Iraq passes the one-million mark of Covid infections this week.

Iraq’s hospitals have been pushed to the limit during the coronavirus pandemic, adding to the strains wrought by years of war, neglect and corruption.

Covid infections have been rising steeply since February in Iraq, and the total passed the one-million mark this week.

The health ministry has recorded 1,025,288 cases and 15,217 deaths since the pandemic began.

The country launched its vaccination campaign last month, and has received nearly 650,000 doses, most of which have come from Covax, a global programme for sharing jabs.

News

Technological terror: China reveals uncanny AI romance film

Published

2 days ago

April 24, 2024

ticker NEWS

As competition intensifies in the streaming landscape, with players like Roku, Vizio, and Samsung launching their ad-supported platforms, TCL aims to carve its niche by offering compelling original content.

TCL, the renowned Chinese smart-TV manufacturer, announces its innovative use of generative artificial intelligence to produce original content for its streaming platform, TCLtvPlus.

Debuting this summer, “Next Stop Paris,” an AI-driven love story, marks the inaugural program from TCLtvPlus Studios

News

Grindr application cruises into court over privacy concerns

Published

2 days ago

April 24, 2024

ticker NEWS

Grindr faces lawsuit over alleged privacy breaches

Grindr, the popular gay dating app, is under fire in London as hundreds of users claim their private information, including HIV status, was shared without consent. The lawsuit alleges commercial use of sensitive data, sparking concern within the LGBTQ+ community. Grindr vows to defend its practices while emphasising its commitment to user privacy and compliance with data regulations.

News

The TikTok ban was just passed by the House. What could happen next?

Published

2 days ago

April 24, 2024

ticker NEWS

Washington D.C. has been under pressure to ban the popular Chinese-owned social media app TikTok.

TikTok users could soon find that the popular social media service is either under new ownership or could be outright banned in the U.S.

Calls are growing louder from many lawmakers and national security hawks to ban TikTok, over fears the app could censure content, influence users, and give Americans’ personal data to Beijing.

But the Chinese tech company, ByteDance—which owns TikTok— denies the allegations.

Dave Levinthal, the Editor-in-Chief of Raw Story joins Veronica Dudo to discuss.