ST PETERSBURG (Russia), May 13 (NNN-AGENCIES) — At least five COVID-19 patients in the Russian city of St. Petersburg died on Tuesday after a ventilator caught fire in the intensive-care ward they were being treated in, according to Russian news agencies.
News agency Interfax quoted a source as saying that the patients had died from inhaling toxic substances released by the fire in the intensive-care unit located on the 6th floor of the Saint George Hospital in the Vyborgsky district.
Rescue teams reportedly took 150 people to safety.
Four patients died in an intensive care ward, the city’s Vyborg district attorney Pavel Danilov said, adding that the cause of death of the fifth person was being clarified.
St. Petersburg governor Alexander Beglov, citing preliminary information, said a short circuit was believed to be the cause of the fire.
“A ventilator has caught fire,” his office said in a statement.
Russia’s Investigative Committee, which examines serious crimes, said it had launched a probe into the incident.
A fire at a Moscow hospital treating coronavirus patients last week killed one person and forced hundreds of others to evacuate.
On Monday, a fire broke out in a retirement home in the Moscow region, killing nine people.
Two more people died in the hospital later, officials said Tuesday, bringing the total death toll to 11.
Russia reported 10,899 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, continuing a steady increase of new infections that has seen the country become a global virus hotspot.
With a total of 232,243 infections, Russia is among the top four most infected countries in the world alongside the United States, Spain and Britain.
Russia’s reported mortality rate is much lower compared to other European countries hit hard by the pandemic, with 107 new deaths and 2,116 dead from the coronavirus as of Tuesday.
Much of Russia’s health care infrastructure is outdated, and the COVID-19 pandemic has put it under considerable strain. — NNN-AGENCIES
