WHO is extremely saddened by the loss of lives in a fire that blazed through in Ibn Al-Khatib hospital in Baghdad

Dr Ahmed Zouiten, WHO Iraq Representative and Head of Mission Said “in my own name and behalf of the members of WHO we extend our deepest condolences and consolation to the families of the victims, and to the people and the Government of Iraq.  And we wish a speedy and full recovery to those who were injured.”

“WHO stands ready to assist Iraq Government efforts to respond to this incident” added Dr Zouiten.

The Government of Iraq declared three days of national mourning, The Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi ordered an investigation into the incident in the early hours of Sunday.

This accident constitutes an additional burden on Iraq’s fragile health system which has faced over the past years, many challenges, including internal conflict and successive displacement crises, and has been stretched even further by the COVID19 Pandemic.