5 killed, 150 evacuated after fire hits St. Petersburg hospital

Five people were killed and 150 others evacuated on Tuesday after a fire broke out in a hospital in the Vyborgsky district of St. Petersburg, Russia. Photo: MTI/AP/Dmitrij Loveckij

Five people were killed and 150 others evacuated on Tuesday after a fire broke out in a hospital in the Vyborgsky district of St. Petersburg, Russia’s second biggest city, according to local emergency services.

The dead included patients in the intensive care unit in the St. George City Hospital, and the flames engulfed an area of 10 square meters, Sputnik quoted the Russian Emergencies Ministry as saying.

The hospital has been renovated to receive patients infected with the novel coronavirus since mid-March, local media reported.

Preliminary inquiries show that electric equipment malfunction and short-circuit failure are among the factors behind the fire , according to the emergency services.

Russia reports over 10,000 new COVID-19 cases in 24 hours

Russia has confirmed 10,899 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, raising its total number of infections to 232,243, its coronavirus response center said in a statement Tuesday.

The single-day increase has been over 10,000 for 10 consecutive days, the center’s data showed.

The death toll grew by 107 to 2,116, while 43,512 people have recovered, including 3,711 over the last 24 hours, the statement said.

Moscow, the country’s worst-hit region, confirmed 5,392 new cases in the past 24 hours, taking its total to 121,301.

Russia’s consumer rights and human well-being watchdog said in a statement Tuesday that 251,011 people had been under medical observation as of Monday.

More than 5.8 million lab tests for COVID-19 have been conducted across the country so far, it added.

The period of non-working days, which has lasted for six weeks, ended from Tuesday for the whole country and for all sectors of the economy, President Vladimir Putin said Monday.

“But the fight against the pandemic is not over. Its danger persists, even in territories where the situation is relatively favorable,” he warned in a televised address to the nation.