Turkey: 8 Coronavirus Patients Killed in Hospital Fire

A fire in an intensive care unit treating Covid-19 patients in a private hospital in the southeastern province of Gaziantep, Turkey, has killed eight, the provincial governor's office said Saturday.

The office said in a statement that the fire was caused by an explosion of a ventilator, adding that 11 other patients who were receiving treatment in the unit were transferred to nearby hospitals.

CNN Turk reported that an oxygen cylinder explosion in the intensive care unit of a private hospital in Gaziantep killed at least 8 patients.

The accident resulted in the injury of 14 patients at Sanko University Hospital, where a fire broke out in the intensive care unit for patients with Coronavirus as a result of the high oxygen flow and the oxygen system affected.

According to reports, eight patients over the age of 50 died, while the other 14 injured were taken for treatment in other hospitals.

The Turkish authorities opened an emergency investigation to find out the causes of the accident.

In another context, Turkish Minister of Industry and Technology Mustafa Varank said that his country has 13 projects to develop the coronavirus vaccine, pointing out that Turkey ranks 3rd in the world in this regard after the United States of America and China.

This came in a speech delivered by Varank, via video conference, during the vaccine and drug conference organized by the "Turkey Covid-19 Platform" of the Turkish Scientific and Technological Research Foundation (TUBITAK).