2 dead after power outage at Amman hospital ICU

Two patients are dead after a power cut at a COVID-19 hospital in Jordan's capital Amman.

They died in the intensive care unit of the privately-run Gardens Hospital, which is being rented by the Jordanian government to treat coronavirus patients.

As news of the tragedy spread, angry relatives gathered outside the hospital, and security officials put up barriers to prevent them from entering the facility.

One relative, Mohammad al-Daghameen, said his mother died when electricity to the intensive care ward was cut.

"When the electricity went out, she began to signal to us that she needed oxygen," he recounted. "Her face seemed to dry out, and turned yellow and black."

He said the electricity was off for about 25 minutes. When power was restored, his mother was close to death. Doctors tried to resuscitate her, but to no avail.

Jordan's health minister Firas Al-Hawari visited the hospital and confirmed that two patients had died, but said the first death was recorded 20 minutes before the power cut.

He said officials were investigating the cause of the deaths and the extent to which the power cut was responsible.

The electricity cut was caused by a short circuit, he said.

Jordan's former health minister Nathir Obeidat resigned in March after several COVID-19 patients died at a government hospital when their oxygen supply ran out in As-Sult city.