Eight patients die in an explosion at a COVID-19 unit in Turkey

Ankara – At least eight COVID-19 patients died on Saturday and eleven were injured by the explosion of an oxygen tube in a Intensive care unit (ICU) in a hospital in Gaziantep, southern Turkey.

The accident happened at 1:45 in the morning, when a device that supplied oxygen to one of the patients exploded, the Gaziantep provincial government said in a statement.

“Eight of the 19 patients hospitalized in the ICU lost their lives. Eleven others have been transferred to other hospitals in the region, “the statement said.

A team of firefighters and police officers were immediately sent to the scene of the accident to extinguish the fire caused by the explosion and to transfer the sick to other buildings.

Authorities have launched a judicial and administrative investigation into the events.

“The deceased patients were between 64 and 85 years old. Seven died in the ICU and another during the transfer to the other hospital “, Okkes Ozeksi, editor of the local daily Gaziantep27, told Efe.