Seven dead after fire at Romanian hospital

Seven people died after a fire broke out at a Romanian hospital on Friday.

The flames erupted in the intensive care unit treating COVID-19 infections, with video showing some patients jumping from windows while others were carried out by firefighters, Reuters reported.

Romania has one of the least developed health care infrastructures in the European Union, and before the pandemic the system was blighted with corruption and politics within management, according to the wire service. 

The fire was in the city of Constanta, and the third large bout of flames to kill people in Romania over the past year. 

There was also a hospital fire in February that killed four patients and another fire that broke out last November in a hospital, killing 10 people. 

“I am appalled at the tragedy,” President Klaus Iohannis said after the fire. “It is a new terrible drama which confirms the lacking infrastructure of Romania’s healthcare system, placed under unimaginable pressure by the fourth wave of the pandemic.”

Those who lost loved ones Friday have protested outside the hospital, and an investigation has begun into the origins of the fire. 

The country has been overwhelmed with COVID-19 cases, with 1,391 virus patients in the intensive care units on Friday, according to Reuters. 

Throughout the pandemic, Romania has recorded more than 1.2 million cases and more than 37,000 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Only 27 percent of the country is fully vaccinated.