BAGHDAD—A fire caused by an exploding oxygen canister killed at least 64 people in a hospital treating Covid-19 patients in southern Iraq late Monday in the second lethal blaze in a coronavirus facility in the country in less than three months, according to Iraqi officials..
Videos of the incident reviewed by The Wall Street Journal showed flames and plumes of black smoke along with the sound of sirens at the Al-Hussein hospital in the city of Nasiriyah.
The fire began in a quarantine facility for Covid-19 patients attached to the main hospital, according to local health officials. The Iraqi government has ordered an investigation into the cause of the fire, which continued after midnight local time.
Following an emergency meeting with ministers and top security officials, Iraq Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi suspended the hospital director, the head of the regional health department and the province’s head of civil defense. He also ordered that all three be…