Gunmen detained for attacking hospital staff in Iraq

Cairo: Iraqi authorities said they had detained an armed group for attacking staff of a hospital in central Baghdad, a week after a deadly fire in another hospital in the country.

The gunmen had attacked some staffers at Al Kindi Hospital, the Security Media Cell said.

“The necessary legal procedures were taken against them and they are kept in custody,” the official agency added in a statement without giving further details.

An unnamed security source, meanwhile, said that a COVID-19 patient had died at Al Kindi Hospital and his family consequently attacked medical professionals and guards of the facility, Iraqi portal Shaafq News reported.

“The Baghdad police had intervened, arrested seven of the attackers and referred them to court,” the source was quoted as saying.

Last week, a blaze ripped through a coronavirus ward at a hospital in Iraq’s southern city of Al Nasiriyah, killing 60 people, according to official figures.

In April, more than 80 people died in a similar incident inside a Baghdad hospital.