Fourteen people are dead and several more were injured after a fire ripped through a North Macedonia COVID-19 field hospital Wednesday night.
The hospital was set up in the western city of Tetovo to deal with a surge in COVID-19 cases in the area.
”It is a tragedy that I can’t even explain,” said local resident Idriz Brahimi. “Those were sick people who couldn’t get out. It is a huge catastrophe."
The cause of the fire, which started around 9 p.m. local time, remains unknown, but an investigation was expected to be completed within days, according to North Macedonia President Stevo Pendarovski, who visited Tetovo. He said the cause was likely accidental.
“We saw the explosion, and when we came here, everything was in flames,” said local resident Nexhmedin Haliti. “Firefighters arrived and started to put the fire out. It lasted for 15 to 20 minutes. Everything burned out.”
North Macedonia recently saw a surge in virus-related cases and deaths.
About 30% of the country’s 2 million people are fully vaccinated.
Some information in this report came from the Associated Press.
