UPDATE 2 - Death toll from fire in COVID ward of Iraqi hospital rises to 41

High-level committee to investigate exact cause of fire and present final report to public within 48 hours

UPDATES WITH MEETING OF PRIME MINISTER AND MINISTERS

By Haydar Karaalp and Mehmet Nuri Ucar

BAGHDAD (AA) - The number of people who were killed in a fire that engulfed the COVID-19 isolation ward of a hospital in southern Iraq has risen to 41, the Iraqi Health Ministry said early Tuesday.

Five more people lost their lives in the fire that broke out at Al-Hussein Hospital in Nasiriya city in Dhi Qar governorate, the ministry said in a statement.

The fire was caused by the misuse of oxygen cylinders, it added.

Local civil defense forces announced that firefighters had brought the blaze under control.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi held an emergency meeting with some ministers and security officials to discuss the fire, according to a statement from the press office of the prime minister.

Following the meeting, Dhi Qar Governor Ahmed al-Khafaji issued a statement saying it was decided to form a high-level committee to investigate the exact cause of the fire and to present a final report to the public within 48 hours.

A state of mourning has been declared in Dhi Qar governorate for those who lost their lives in the fire and official working hours were suspended for three days from Tuesday.

A previous statement said that five others were injured in the fire.

Earlier Monday, a fire broke out on the fourth floor of the Ministry of Health in central Baghdad.

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