Two people were killed on Friday in the fire of a resuscitation service for covid-19 patients in Astrakhan, southern Russia, Russian news agencies reported, citing first responders.
The fire started at 06:07 GMT (10:07 local time) and was quickly put out, the local antenna of the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry said.
“According to preliminary reports, two people died,” Andreii Khegai, representative of the prosecutor’s office in charge of the investigations, told the Interfax agency.
The fire was caused by a short circuit in a respirator, sources said.
Russia has recorded several fatal incidents in clinics and hospitals providing care for patients with covid-19 since the beginning of the pandemic.
In August, nine patients died after an oxygen tube ruptured in a hospital in Vladikavkaz, capital of the Russian republic of North Ossetia.
In June, three people died of a defective artificial respirator in a hospital in Riazan, southeast of Moscow.
In May 2020, fires in hospitals in Moscow and St. Petersburg killed seven patients.
Russia is one of the countries most affected by the covid-19 pandemic.
More than 520,000 have died since the beginning of the pandemic, according to official statistics from the Rosstat agency.
