Ten people on Wednesday night died in a fire at a clinic for treating COVID-19 patients in North Macedonia, authorities said.
The fire broke out following an explosion in a COVID-19 clinic in Tetovo, in the northwest of the Balkan country, said North Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev, who immediately headed to the town.
“A huge tragedy has occurred in the Tetovo COVID-19 center,” Zaev wrote on Twitter. “An explosion caused a fire. The fire was extinguished, but many lives were lost.”
Photo: AFP
At least 10 people died in the disaster, North Macedonian Minister of Health Venko Filipce said.
“At the moment, 10 people are confirmed to have died, but that number could rise,” he wrote on Twitter, expressing his “profound condolences” to the victims’ families.
The fire occurred as the former Yugoslav republic celebrated the 30th anniversary of its independence, with festivities in the capital, Skopje, including a military parade.
Investigators have gone to the site to try to determine the cause of the disaster.
Fire services were alerted to the blaze at about 7pm, and it took about 45 minutes to extinguish.
The hospital had only last year built the modular unit to treat COVID-19 patients in Tetovo, a town with a population of about 50,000 people.
“The fire was huge because the hospital is modular — there was plastic,” Tetovo deputy fire chief Saso Trajcevski told local media.
“We took out victims, while we put out the flames,” he added.
Several injured people were transported to hospitals in the capital.
“The fight for life is still going on and all services are doing everything they can to save people,” Zaev said, expressing “deep condolences to the families of the deceased.”
“I wish the injured a quick recovery,” he added.
The country has a population of about 2 million and its healthcare system is run down.
North Macedonia has reported a rise in COVID-19 infections, with the daily death toll reaching about 30. It has recorded more than 6,100 fatalities since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hospitals treating COVID-19 patients in other countries have been hit by explosions followed by fires.
In Iraq, numerous people were killed in fires caused by exploding oxygen cylinders in April and July.
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