Xi sends condolences over Iraqi fire

President Xi Jinping on Thursday sent a message of condolence to his Iraqi counterpart Barham Salih over a hospital fire in Iraq's southern province of Dhi Qar that caused heavy casualties.

On behalf of the Chinese government and people, Xi extended in his message profound condolences over the deaths and conveyed sincere sympathies to the bereaved families and the injured.

On Monday evening, a huge fire broke out in the quarantine center of al-Hussein Hospital in the provincial capital al-Nasiriyah, and quickly spread to 20 sandwich panel caravans nearby.

Firefighters and civil defense teams rushed to the scene to evacuate the patients and health workers. The fire was put out hours later.

The Iraqi Ministry of Health on Wednesday put the death toll of the incident at 60, denying earlier reports of a higher toll.

"After the end of the civil defense and forensics work in Dhi Qar Province, the total number of deaths in the fire of the quarantine center at al-Hussein Hospital reached 39, in addition to 21 unidentified bodies," the ministry said in a statement.

The ministry asserted that it denies what was reported by the media about a higher number of casualties, according to the statement.

The incident sparked anger among Iraqis as it was the second such deadly incident following a fire in Ibn al-Khatib Hospital in Baghdad in April that killed at least 82 people and injured more than 100.

On Tuesday, Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi held a cabinet meeting in which he pledged to announce the results of an investigation within a week, according to a statement issued by the prime minister's office.

Meanwhile, Kadhimi suspended and detained the director-general of the provincial health department, the director of the hospital and the provincial civil defense director, and ordered an investigation into the deadly incident, said the statement.

Mo Jingxi in Beijing and Xinhua contributed to the story.