The fire broke out at the Al-Hussein hospital in Nasiriyah, the capital of the Dhi Qar Governorate, late on Monday and was brought under control by civil defense teams.

The officials said that there were fears people could still be trapped inside the building.

Iraq’s Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi has called for an immediate investigation and declared a state of emergency in Dhi Qar Governorate until further notice.

This is the second mass-casualty hospital fire to take place in Iraq in less than three months.

On the night of 24 to 25 April 2021, a fire at the Ibn al-Khatib hospital in Baghdad, Iraq, left at least 82 people dead and 110 others injured. The fire was started by the explosion of oxygen tanks designated for COVID-19 patients.

A lack of fire detection and suppression systems contributed to the spread of the fire, and many died as a result of being taken off their ventilators to escape the fire.

The disaster led to calls for accountability, and the Minister for Health, Hassan al-Tamimi, was suspended by Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi the following day.