At least seven COVID-19 patients died when a hospital in Jordan ran out of oxygen – with the country’s health minister quickly dismissed when protests erupted across the Middle East kingdom.
The state hospital in the city of Salt did not have oxygen for at least two hours on Saturday morning, and people were seen running with portable devices as they died in the COVID-19 infirmary.
Prime Minister Bisher al Khasawneh sacked Health Minister Nathir Obeidat, according to Reuters, although other reports say he resigned.
As relatives and angry protesters gathered outside the hospital, King Abdullah paid a visit to calm tensions – and ordered the hospital’s director, Abdel Razak al-Khashman, to resign.
In a video posted online, Abdullah shook his head as he asked the hospital director: “How did something like this happen? This is unacceptable ”, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The director is among at least five hospital employees who were detained on Saturday night, the news agency said.
“We want to bring those responsible for this to trial and then overthrow the government,” said Ahmad Hiyari, one of hundreds of protesters near the hospital, about 21 kilometers north of the capital Amman.
The outrage soon sparked further protests in many provincial cities and towns in Jordan, fueling anger over blockades and curfews, which recorded more than 486,470 cases and more than 5,428 deaths.
“Down with the government. We are not afraid of the coronavirus, ”hundreds of young people chanted in Irbid, one of the countless protests across the kingdom that is home to 10 million people.
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