Ten people were killed while ten were injured when a fire broke out at the intensive care unit of a public hospital in Piatra Neamt, Romania.
ABC News reported that the intensive care ward of the Piatra Neamt Regional Emergency Hospital where the fire started was a designated facility for COVID-19 patients. Most of the victims were patients.
Lucian Micu, the hospital’s manager, was quoted as saying that a doctor suffered first and second-degree burns on 80 per cent of his body as he attempted to save patients. Meanwhile, seven of the injured victims are in critical condition.
A short circuit was being viewed as a possible cause for the fire, according to Romanian Health Minister Nelu Tataru.
However, the country’s prosecutor’s office said that the fire could possibly be a case of criminal manslaughter.
The Piatra Neamt Regional Emergency Hospital has been said to be poorly managed, with Micu being designated as manager just three weeks prior to the incident.
It was said that Micu’s predecessor resigned over poor treatment of patients. Last year, the Romanian government had appointed eight managers to the hospital.
The incident would not only impact Romania’s struggle to fight the current pandemic but also affect the national elections on December 6, as the Left-leaning Social Democrat Party, known as PSD, could use the incident in its tirades against the National Liberal Party (NLP), which was controlling the government.
The PSD used to control the government but the said fire that razed a Bucharest nightclub in 2015, which killed 64 people, led to massive protests and the resignation of government officials.
According to sources, the current administration ruled by the NLP had been struggling to handle the pandemic, wasting public funds while the number of COVID-related deaths continues to rise in the country.
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