fire at sanatorium in Bulgaria kills three COVID-19 patients

SOFIA (Reuters) - Three guys died when a fire broke out in a COVID-19 ward of a hospital in the southern Bulgarian metropolis of Sliven early on Sunday, officers noted.

The hearth, which was rapidly extinguished, broke out at round 0040 GMT and affected one room. Six patients in adjacent rooms have been moved to other wards of the hospital, the head of the regional hearth safety branch Vladimir Demirev said.

© 2021 Getty images FILE - SOFIA, BULGARIA - NOVEMBER 13: medical professional Dimitar Milutinov donning shielding gadget whereas looking after a coronavirus patient within the intensive care unit of St.Anna clinic on November 13, 2021 in Sofia, Bulgaria. Bulgaria reported it be optimum daily Covid-19 deaths, the seven-day rolling ordinary of deaths per million inhabitants reached 22.8, compared with an european regular of 3.1. (photograph with the aid of Hristo Rusev/Getty images) Two of the men have been found lifeless by means of firefighters. The different patient suffered heavy burns and turned into transported to one more medical institution the place he later died.

The explanation for the fireplace is being investigated, however a cigarette, lit via a affected person, turned into essentially the most probable reason behind the hearth, the fitness ministry pointed out in a statement.

There are greater than eight,000 COVID-19 sufferers, together with 700 in intensive care devices, being treated in Bulgarian hospitals as the Balkan country votes in its third parliamentary election this year.

Bulgaria has the bottom vaccination rate within the European Union and some of the maximum COVID-19 mortality prices within the bloc, with record each day infection numbers during October stretching its hospitals.