Iraqis Call to Sack Health Minister After Deadly Hospital Fire Kills at Least 80 

Iraqi citizens and critics have taken to social media to demand that the country’s health minister be fired after a blaze in a Baghdad hospital that killed at least 80 and injured more than 100 patients and their family members. In addition, the Independent High Commission for Human Rights of Iraq, which is linked to the parliament, also called on the country’s prime minister to fire Health Minister Hassan al-Tamimi and his deputies over the devastating fire. The fire erupted at the Ibn Khatib hospital, set up to care for COVID-19 patients, after an oxygen tank exploded. The country’s Health Ministry said that over 200 patients were rescued from the blaze. Many people reportedly were badly burned and the number of dead was expected to rise. Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi has called for three days of national mourning and has ordered an investigation into the fire.