Arson is suspected behind fire at Iraq’s Yarmuk Hospital

According to health ministry of Iraq’s spokesperson, a fire that killed 13 children in an Iraqi maternity ward was apparently started intentionally. Ahmed al-Rudeini had previously said that fire at Yarmuk Hospital, one of the main such facilities in Baghdad, had been started by an electrical fault.
After investigation, he changed his previous statement, and commented, “The presence of flammable materials at the site, and this of course indicates the occurrence of arson.”
Many of Baghdad’s public hospitals are poorly maintained and offer sub-standard healthcare, forcing a number of Iraqis to seek private treatment or travel abroad. The lack of adequate public services, such as quality medical care, electricity and water supply, as well as widespread corruption in the country, has angered the public and led to a series of protests in the past year.