A fire early Friday in a major hospital in Bucharest that also treated COVID-19 patients killed at least four people, authorities said.
The fire broke out on the ground floor of the hospital around 5am (0400GMT) and forced the evacuation of more than 100 people. Some hospital staff could be seen later, while still wearing protective suits and face masks after rushing out.
An indefinite number of people were injured before firefighters extinguished the fire, Romanian emergency services said in a preliminary report. It was not immediately clear what caused the fire.
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An emergency paramedic leans against a wall outside Matei Bals Hospital in Bucharest, Romania, on January 29, 2021. A fire early Friday in a key hospital in Bucharest that also treated COVID-19 patients killed four people , the authorities said. (AP Photo / Andreea Alexandru)
“We found open flames 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, the commander of the intervention unit at the scene.
Read Arafat, the head of the emergency department, said the four victims were all hospital patients. Three of them were already dead when they were found while rescuers tried to revive the fourth victim but could not, he said.
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Hours later, charred balconies could be seen in Matei Bals Hospital, where health authorities have ordered the start of antivirus vaccination in Romania. Ambulances and firefighting vehicles could be seen parked outside the hospital.
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The Balkan country, which has so far had 19 million people, has so far reported more than 700,000 COVID-19 cases and 18,000 deaths.