Fire Kills 10 at Romanian COVID-19 Hospital

Ten people died in a fire in a Romanian hospital on Saturday treating coronavirus patients, the country's emergency agency (ISU) reported.

The blaze broke out in the Piatra Neamt County Hospital Intensive Care Unit and spread to the adjacent space. It was not clear what caused it, officials said.

Seven other people were injured and in critical condition, including the doctor on call, they said.

Prosecutors said they would investigate the cause of the fire.

Health Minister Nelu Tataru told reporters that six surviving patients will be transferred to the COVID-19 hospital in the eastern Romanian city of Iasi.

The injured doctor, who had serious burns on 40% of his body, will be moved to a hospital in the capital of Bucharest, Tataru said.

“In future legislation, all public hospitals will be coordinated by the health ministry,” Tataru said without elaborating. Local hospitals are currently run by county councils, making overall supervision of the health system difficult.

Tataru said that the Piatra Neamt Hospital will continue to operate an intensive care unit on a separate floor.

The fire was the deadliest country since 2015, when the night club in the capital Bucharest burned down and 65 people died.