Fire at Romanian hospital leaves at least nine casualties

At least nine people died when a fire broke out in a Romanian Intensive Care Unit (ICU) treating COVID-19 patients, and officials said it was the country's third deadly hospital fire in less than a year.

Iran PressEurope: The fire broke out early Friday morning at the Infectious Diseases Hospital in the port city of Constanta. 

Firefighters extinguished the fire at the hospital at around 07:55 GMT.

Enraged relatives of the patients gathered outside the hospital in protest, and prosecutors have opened an investigation into the causes of the fire.

Romania has one of EU's least developed healthcare infrastructures

With a population of 19 million, Romania has had two more deadly hospital fires in the past year, raising concerns about the country's old health infrastructure. 

Even before the pandemic, Romania's health care system had been under pressure, dogged by corruption, inefficiencies, and politicized management. The country has one of the EU's least developed healthcare infrastructures. 

The state has built one hospital in the last three decades, spends the least on healthcare in the EU, and tens of thousands of doctors and nurses have emigrated. 

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