At least ten COVID-19 patients killed by exploding oxygen cylinder in Turkish hospital

A fire has broken out in a private hospital's COVID-19 intensive care unit in Turkey, killing at least ten patients, the health minister says.

People, police and medics gather outside the privately-run Sanko University Hospital in Gaziantep, Turkey, Saturday, 19 December, 2020. Source: AAP

At least ten coronavirus patients died on Saturday after an oxygen tank explosion triggered a fire at a hospital in southeastern Turkey, the health ministry said.

The blaze in an intensive care ward of the hospital in Gaziantep broke out when a tank on an artificial respirator exploded.

"We are profoundly saddened by this tragedy," Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said before a planned visit to the hospital.

All the victims were patients who had been hospitalised with the coronavirus. Other patients affected by the fire were transferred to other hospitals.

Police and medics gather outside Sanko University Hospital in Gaziantep after the deadly explosion, 19 December, 2020. Source: DHA

Images in local media showed the ward completely destroyed by fire with charred beds.

Turkey has recorded more than 1.9 million cases of COVID-19 and more than 17,600 deaths since the pandemic began a year ago.

Intensive care units across Turkey currently have a 74 per cent bed occupancy rate due to the coronavirus outbreak, according to government figures.

However medical associations say the figure is higher and their hospitals are overrun with COVID-19 patients.