Arrests made over attack on Iraq hospital in response to Covid-19 deaths

BAGHDAD – Police here yesterday said they have arrested a group of men who allegedly attacked a hospital, as a security source told AFP that the armed assault was carried out in retaliation after four Covid-19 patients died when their oxygen was cut.

Security forces “arrested an armed group that attacked Al-Kindi Hospital”, one of the main ones in the Iraqi capital, said a police statement.

About 10 people were involved in the attack, and all were arrested, said the source.

They belong to the family of one of the four patients who died when a power cut turned off ventilators, according to the source.

The situation in hospitals across the country has often been catastrophic amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

There have been two deadly fires at coronavirus units under three months, with one killing more than 80 people here in April and the most recent claiming at least 60 lives on Monday in southern Nassiriya.

Since the start of the pandemic, which has killed over 17,700 people in Iraq, Covid-19 units have been hastily built to care for patients. The country, however, remains subject to incessant power cuts. – AFP, July 18, 2021