Romania: Fire breaks out at hospital in Constanta; at least 9 people dead

A fire broke out at a hospital in Romania's port city of Constanta, killing at least 9 people. According to Romania's emergency situations inspectorate, all other patients had been evacuated from Constanta's Hospital for Infectious Diseases, and the fire had been put out by mid-morning on Friday, October 1.

According to Romania's Health Ministry, the hospital's medical unit had 113 patients, 10 of whom were in the intensive care unit, AP reported.

According to Constantin Amarandei, head of the city's emergency inspectorate, all of the victims were in the Intensive Care Unit of the Hospital for Infectious Diseases in Constanta. Only one ICU patient made it out alive, as per AP reports.

Third fatal hospital fire in Romanian since last year

Romania, a European Union country with a population of 19 million people, has had two more fatal hospital fires in the last year, raising concerns about the country's ageing hospital infrastructure. A fire ripped into an Intensive Care Unit for Covid-19 patients in the northern town of Piatra Neamt last November, killing 10 people. In January, a fire ravaged a unit at the Matei Bals hospital in Bucharest, killing five people.

According to President Klaus Iohannis, "The Romanian state has failed in its core obligation to protect its inhabitants," AP quoted him as saying.

"The catastrophe that occurred this morning at the Infectious Diseases Hospital in Constanta has shocked me. It's a horrific new drama that confirms Romania's health-care infrastructure's flaws," he stated.

The pandemic has put Romania's "outdated" health-care system under "unimaginable pressure," according to President Klaus Iohannis. Romanian hospitals are under strain as a result of a significant increase in Covid-19 infections, which has pushed the country's hospitals beyond capacity.

(With inputs from AP)

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