Bucharest Police question nurses, assistants over deadly Matei Bals hospital fire

Two nurses and two nursing assistants of the Matei Bals hospital who were on duty at the ward where a fire broke out that killed five patients were questioned on Friday at the Bucharest Police headquarters.

According to lawyer for the Matei Bals hospital Constantin Durgeru, the two assistants tried to put out the fire and managed to stop the oxygen supply, avoiding an explosion.

"They told exactly what happened, in other words they told the truth. First called to testify were the people who were directly involved in the events, those who were on the night shift, namely nurses and assistants: two nurses and two assistants. (...) They testified as witnesses. One thing is certain, it is obvious that one cannot speak of the fault of the medical staff; it is very clear that the reaction was prompt. It was a completely unfortunate incident, absolutely unfortunate from all points of view, and the nurses, (...) because they were the first to come into contact with the fire, had a prompt reaction, and one of them also had the presence of mind to cut off the oxygen supply. Had the oxygen supply not been stopped, there would have had an explosion," the lawyer said.

He added that the assistants did exactly the right thing: "Their first reaction was prompt, in that one of the two assistants jumped with a blanket to put out the fire, which had engulfed an unfortunate patient, and the other turned off the oxygen installation. It was obvious that she had a prompt reaction, after which both of them, one on the left and the other on the right, ran after the fire extinguishers, knowing that there were fire extinguishers at the ends of the corridor. They did exactly what they had to do. Obviously, they were well trained, reason why in such a stressful situation, although it would have been normal to panic, because we are still talking about some assistants and any normal person would have been lost in such a situation, with all the stress, but they reacted as much appropriately as possible. "

The fire broke out on Friday, around 05:00hrs, EET, at a ward where COVID-19 patients had been hospitalised. Three patients got charred to death, while a fourth victim died after failed resuscitation. Later, another patient was found dead in a bathroom.

Prosecutors and the police are investigating the case as culpable homicide.