Two people died today when a fire broke out in an intensive care unit for patients with covid-19 in Astrakhan in southern Russia, Russian news agencies reported.
The fire broke out at 10:07 a.m. local time and was quickly brought under control, the local office of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations reported.
"According to preliminary data, two people were killed," Andrei Hegai, a spokesman for Russia's Investigative Committee, told Interfax.
According to the Russian media, the authorities speculate that the fire was caused by a short circuit in a ventilator in the intensive care unit.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, there have been many accidents in Russian hospitals where patients with covid-19.
Nine patients died in August from a ruptured oxygen tube at a hospital in Vladikavkaz, the capital of the Russian republic of North Ossetia.
In June, three people were killed in a fire at a hospital in Ryazan, southeast of Moscow, due to a defective ventilator.
Seven people also died in fires that broke out in hospitals in Moscow and St. Petersburg in May 2020. And in this case the cause was defective ventilators.
Russia is one of the countries most affected by the pandemic covid-19, mainly due to the low vaccination rate and the absence of strong restrictive measures.
More than 520.000 people have died from its complications covid-19, according to the Russian statistical service Rosstat, while the cases have exceeded 10.300.000.
Source: RES-EAP