A fire broke out on a ward for COVID-19 patients in Bulgaria early Sunday, killing three people, officials said.
The fire in the southern Bulgarian town of Sliven broke out at about 2:40 am, the chief of the local fire brigade, Vladimir Demirev, told reporters.
The blaze occurred in a room on the fourth floor where three male patients were receiving care, reports AP.
“Two of the patients died on the spot, while the third one was transported to an emergency hospital where he has died of his severe burns,” Demirev said.
The fire was quickly extinguished, and an investigation was launched to establish the cause.
A new surge in coronavirus cases is overwhelming Bulgaria’s ailing health care system. On Sunday, health authorities reported 8,178 patients in COVID-19 wards, 745 of them in intensive care.
The Balkan country of 7 million remains the least-vaccinated in the 27-nation European Union, with less than one-third of its adults fully vaccinated.