North Macedonia hospital fire kills over 10 people
Over 10 people died in a fire swept through a temporary hospital treating COVID-19 patients in North Macedonia, authorities said.
According to the Prime Minister, Zoran Zaev, who immediately headed to the town said, the fire broke out on Wednesday evening in Tetovo in the northwest of the Balkan country.
“A huge tragedy has occurred in the Tetovo COVID-19 centre. An explosion caused a fire. The fire was extinguished but many lives were lost.
“At the moment, 10 people are confirmed to have died, but that number could rise,” Health Minister Venko Filipche said.
A senior government official said, it was unclear how many patients were in the hospital when the fire broke out at approximately 9pm local time.
The modular COVID-19 unit was built last year at the hospital to look after coronavirus patients in the town of about 50,000 people.
“The fire was huge because the hospital is modular, there was plastic,” Tetovo deputy fire chief Saso Trajcevski said.
“We took out victims while we put out the flames.”
Several injured people were taken to hospitals in Skopje, the capital.
North Macedonia has a population of about two million, and its healthcare services are run down.
Coronavirus cases have been on the rise since mid-August, prompting the government to introduce stricter social measures such as health passes for cafés and restaurants.
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