12 May 2020

Russian hospital fire kills five coronavirus patients

A fire at a St Petersburg hospital in Russia has killed five coronavirus patients.

The fire broke out on Tuesday on the sixth floor of an intensive care unit at the St George Hospital.

According to Russian news agency reports, the fire may have been caused by a short-circuit in a ventilator.

An unnamed source told Interfax: “Ventilators are at their limit. According to preliminary data, there was an overload and the machine ignited, which caused the fire.”

The five patients who died had been on ventilators (PA Images)

And the country's emergency ministry said a further 150 people were evacuated from the hospital, but it has not yet been confirmed how many people are injured. 

In March the hospital was converted in order to treat coronavirus patients. 

St Petersburg has the third-highest infection rate in Russia, with over 7,500 confirmed cases and 56 recorded deaths. 

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