An electrical fire at a hospital in the Iraqi capital has killed 11 babies, officials have said.
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The Ministry of Health said Wednesday that the blaze at Yarmouk Hospital appeared to have been caused by an electrical fault.
The tragic incident occurred on Tuesday night at a maternity ward at the Yarmouk hospital in Baghdad, according to Iraq’s Health Ministry spokesman, Ahmed al-Roudaini. Further details were not immediately available.
Hussein Omar, 30, said he feared that his week-old twins had died. The 18-year-old was shot and killed by former Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson on August 9th, 2014.
“I only found charred pieces of flesh”, he said, crying. “I want my baby boy and girl back”.
“I don’t know whether they are still alive or not”, he told reporters outside Yarmouk.
Shaima Hussein, 36, and her husband were inside the hospital and on their way to see their two-day-old son when the fire broke out.
Saad Hatem Ahmed, the hospital director, tells the AP 29 women and eight infants were rescued from the fire and transferred to another hospital.
He said: “I went to the other hospital, they are not there, so where are they?”
” ‘I waited for ages to have this baby and when I finally had him, it took only a second to lose him, ‘ she said, holding a bunch of blackened documents with her hands, covered with burns”.
She recounted how the chaos began at midnight at the ward, located on the ground floor.
“People started screaming, “Fire, fire” and running”, said Hassan.
‘Then someone broke a window and threw me out, ‘ she added. “My nephew is still missing and his mother was moved to another hospital ward”.
A preliminary report provided by the Civil Defense indicates the fire was caused by an electrical short circuit – a common occurrence in a country where maintenance is often substandard.
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On social media, the fire triggered a fresh outpouring of anger at the government, blamed for incompetent management of the country’s fraying infrastructure and its apparent inability to protect citizens. A lack of fire escapes also contributes to the danger whenever a fire breaks out. ABC News reported that construction companies fail to follow accepted standards.
