Update: Interior minister Lucian Bode told Digi24 that another person died in the fire, the death toll thus rising to five.

Four patients lost their lives after a fire broke out at the Matei Bals Institute in Bucharest, one of Romania's largest hospitals that also treats COVID-19 patients. 

Three of the victims died in the fire, while the fourth died later, despite the rescuers' efforts to resuscitate her. According to information from the Ministry of Health, the fourth victim is an 80-year-old woman who had burns on 20% of her body.

The Health Ministry also said that 53 of the over 100 patients from the hospital's Pavilion 5, where the fire broke out, had been transferred to other hospitals in Bucharest. The authorities have also opened special phone lines for relatives of the patients.

The fire broke out early Friday morning, at around 05:00, on the ground floor. The authorities launched the red intervention plan, with dozens of ambulances and vehicles of the fire department being sent to the scene. The fire, which was put out by the firefighters, affected four rooms, according to local Digi24.

Specialists of the Emergency Situations Inspectorate, as well as police officers and prosecutors, are currently investigating the cause of the fire. The prime minister's Control Body was also sent to the hospital. 

Doctor Adrian Streinu Cercel, former director of the Matei Bals Institute, said that the hospital was built in 1953 and rebuilt "from all points of view, including from the point of view of oxygen supply," Digi24 also reported. He also said that the hospital has all the authorizations and that the last oxygen line was installed in December. 

The head of the Department for Emergency Situations, Raed Arafat, said on Friday that from the information available so far, apart from the four people who died after the fire, there are no more patients in critical condition or patients with burns, according to Agerpres.

A similar tragedy occurred in Romania in mid-November last year, when several patients lost their lives in a fire that destroyed the intensive care (ATI) section of the county hospital in Piatra Neamt.

irina.marica@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Inquam Photos/Octav Ganea)