Fire in Russia hospital kills five ventilated coronavirus patients

A massive fire in a hospital treating coronavirus patients in Russia claimed the lives of five patients.

The five patients had been connected to ventilating equipment, the TASS news agency reported.

The fire broke out on the sixth floor of an intensive care unit at the St George Hospital in St Petersburg. It also forced the evacuation of 150 people, state news agencies reported.

Prima facie, the police said, the fire might have been caused by a short circuit in a ventilator or its malfunction.

A criminal investigation has been opened into the matter.

In a similar case, a fire broke out late Saturday at a Moscow hospital, killing one person and forcing the evacuation of patients.

Russia has so far reported 2,21,344 coronavirus cases, making it the third highest count in the world for confirmed cases, behind the US and Spain.

Moscow is the worst hit city in Russia, with 1,15,909 cases.