Another deadly hospital blaze in Romania just three months after 10 were killed in a fire north of Bucharest.
ADVERTISEMENTAt least four people have been killed in a blaze at a hospital in Bucharest being used to treat COVID-19 patients, just three months after another hospital fire killed 10 people north of the Romanian capital.
The fire broke out at the Matei Bals Hospital in Bucharest, one of the city's largest, early on Friday.
"Three patients were found dead and a fourth died later," said Secretary of State at the Ministry of the Interior, Raed Arafat, adding that they were patients with Covid-19.
"About 120 patients who were in the same ward were evacuated," ISU spokesperson Bogdan Toma told AFP.
In November the hospital, also known as the National Insititute of Infectious Diseases, made headlines in Romania when images were published online showing overcrowded wards and patients having to be treated in corridors due to an influx of COVID-19 cases.
On November 14, 10 people were killed at a hospital treating COVID-19 patients in the northern city of Piatra Neamt.
After the accident, authorities announced checks in intensive care units across the country.
Speaking at the time, Marius Filip, director of the Romanian health authority, told AFP that less than a third of Romania's 670 hospitals have fire-safety certification.
The fires - and the COVID-19 pandemic - have brought Romania's faltering healthcare system into stark focus in the five years since an October fire at a Bucharest nightclub left 64 people dead.