Nine COVID-19 patients died in a fire in an intensive care unit of a hospital in southern Turkey on Saturday, officials said.
An oxygen cylinder exploded in the ICU unit at Sanko University Hospital in Gaziantep, killing nine patients between the ages of 56 and 85. The fire was quickly extinguished and 10 other patients survived, the Associated Press reported.
Government figures show that ICU units in Turkey currently have a 74 percent occupancy rate due to the pandemic, but medical officials say the number is higher and Turkish hospitals are full of coronavirus patients.
On Friday, Turkey reported 26,410 new cases of coronavirus, bringing the country’s total to 1.98 million since March.
Turkey hit a record high per day of 246 COVID-19-related deaths reported Friday for a total reported coronavirus death toll of 17,610.