At least 82 people were killed and 110 injured in a fire on Saturday at a hospital in southeastern Baghdad that had been equipped to house COVID-19 patients, according to media reports.

The fire at the Ibn Khatib Hospital in the Diyala Bridge area of the Iraqi capital occurred after an accident caused an oxygen tank to explode, the sources said.

Many ambulances were seen rushing towards the hospital, ferrying away those hurt by the fire, a Reuters photographer nearby said.

Patients not injured in the incident were also being transferred out of the hospital, the medical sources said.

The head of the Iraqi civil defense unit said the fire broke out on the floor designated for the pulmonary intensive care unit and that 90 people have been rescued from the hospital out of 120, state news agency INA quoted him as saying.

Major General Kadhim Bohan added that the fire has been put out. 

Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi ordered an investigation into the incident in the early hours of Sunday.

"Such an incident is evidence of negligence and therefore I directed that an investigation be launched immediately and for the hospital's manager and the heads of security and maintenance to be detained along with all those concerned until we identify those negligent and hold them accountable."

Iraq's healthcare system, already ruined by decades of sanctions, war and neglect, has been stretched during the coronavirus crisis.

The total number of COVID-19 cases in Iraq is 102,5288, including 15,217 deaths, the health ministry said on Saturday.

(Cover: People gather inside Ibn Khatib Hospital after a fire caused by an oxygen tank explosion in Baghdad, Iraq, April 25, 2021. /Reuters)