A fire on Friday at a major hospital in Bucharest, which also treats patients on COVID-19, killed at least four people, officials said.
The fire started around 5 am (0400GMT) on the ground floor of the hospital and forced the evacuation of more than 100 people. Some hospital workers could later be seen wearing protective clothing and masks after running out.
An unspecified number of people were injured before firefighters extinguished the fire, Romanian emergency services said in a preliminary report. It was not clear what caused the fire.
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An emergency paramedic is leaning against a wall outside the Matei Bals hospital complex in Bucharest, Romania, Friday, January 29, 2021. A fire on Friday at a major hospital in Bucharest that also deals with COVID-19 patients killed four people, officials said. (AP Photo / Andreea Alexandru)
“We found an open flame on the ground floor of the building. … There was a lot of smoke and there was a chance that the fire would spread to the second floor,” said Orlando Schiopu, commander of the intervention unit on the scene.
Leia Arafat, the head of the emergency department, said the four victims were hospital patients. Three of them were already dead when they were found while rescuers tried to resuscitate the fourth victim, but failed, he said.
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Hours later, charred balconies could be seen at Matei Bals hospital, where health officials organized the start of antivirus vaccination in Romania. Ambulances and fire fighting vehicles could be seen parked in front of the hospital.
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The Balkan country with about 19 million inhabitants has so far reported more than 700,000 cases of COVID-19 and 18,000 deaths.