NASIRIYAH, Iraq, Jan 23 (AFP) - Sixteen Iraqis, including two children, were killed on Sunday when a fire swept through a hospital in the southern town of Nasiriyah, causing panicked patients to jump out of windows.
"Sixteen people were killed and others wounded in the fire which broke out at 1:00 am (2200 GMT) and which was due to a short circuit," said local police chief Mohammed Muheibel.
Women, hospital staff and patients including children were among the victims of the blaze at Nasiriyah general hospital.
"The fire destroyed the six floors of the hospital and all the equipment that was there," Muheibel said, adding that the fire was put out only early Sunday.
More than 200 patients and staff were evacuated, many of them suffering from smoke inhalation.
"Thank God, the police and fire brigade arrived quickly," said Mohammed Ali, 30, who had been visiting his father in the holiday.
Many of the patients and hospital staff jumped out of first and second floor windows when the blaze took hold, said rescue worker Said al-Khafaji.
"They were all panicking. They smashed windows before jumping out," he added.
Dr Mohammad Hilal at Nasiriyah general hospital said there were two women and two children among the 16 patients and four staff killed while 25 of the injured remained in intensive care.
A police officer at the scene lashed out at the poor condition of the hospital and the lack of any evacuation plan or emergency equipment.
"I don't understand why a hospital of this size has only one ambulance and no fire extinguisher," he said. "We had to transport the injured in police cars. Even the oxygen canisters we used were practically empty."
Many of Iraq's hospitals are in poor condition and lacking basic equipment, largely because of underinvestment during the years of crippling UN sanctions imposed on the former regime of toppled president Saddam Hussein.
01/23/2005 16:26 GMT - AFP