At Least Nine Dead in Another Romanian Hospital Fire

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) – A fire broke out Friday morning at a hospital in Romania´s port city of Constanta, leaving at least nine people dead, authorities said.

All the patients had been evacuated from Constanta´s Hospital for Infectious Diseases and the fire had been extinguished by mid-morning, Romania’s emergency situations inspectorate said.

The health ministry said in a statement that more details will be given at a news conference at an unspecified time.

It said that 113 patients were in the medical unit of the hospital, 10 of whom were intensive care unit patients.

Romania, a European Union country of 19 million, has had two other deadly hospital fires within the past year, which has raised concerns about the country´s ageing hospital infrastructure.

Last November, 10 people died after a fire tore through an intensive care unit for COVID-19 patients in the northern town of Piatra Neamt. Another blaze in January engulfed a ward at Bucharest´s Matei Bals hospital, killing at least 5 people.

After the Matei Bals fire, President Klaus Iohannis called for urgent and “profound” reform. He said tragedies like it “must not happen again.”