Following Sunday’s praying of the Angelus with the faithful in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Francis prayed for the victims of yesterday’s tragic hospital fire in Romania.
«Yesterday, in a hospital facility in Romania, where various patients stricken with the coronavirus were admitted, a fire broke out which claimed several victims,» the Holy Father lamented. «I express my closeness and pray for them. Let us pray for them.»
The fire in northeastern Romania killed 10 people and injured 10 others, seven of them critically, reported Vatican News. Officials the blaze spread through the intensive care ward designated for Covid-19 patients at the public hospital in the city of Piatra Neamt.
According to data released by Johns Hopkins University that is charting the coronavirus pandemic, Romania has registered over 350,000 infections and almost 9,000 deaths, making it one of the 20 countries with the highest mortality rate in the world.
