Jordan: Health Minister Resigns after over Salt Hospital Disaster
Jordan’s Minister of Health Nathir Obeidat resigned on Saturday after six coronavirus patients died in a government hospital when oxygen supplies were cut off for about an hour.
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A state of panic erupted in the hospital following the incident, as family members of COVID-19 patients rushed to the facility to check on their sick relatives, local media reported.
The oxygen system at the Salt General Hospital in the town of As-Sat near the capital Amman suffered an outage, according to Jordanian media reports.
Police were stationed outside the hospital to prevent any chaos breaking out, the reports said.
Jordan’s King Abdullah visited the hospital on Saturday.
Jordan’s Prime Minister Bisher al-Khasawneh ordered authorities to open an investigation immediately, the Jordan News Agency (Petra) said.
Al-Khasawneh requested the President of the Judicial Council to conduct an investigation through the Public Prosecution, and to issue the results of its investigations in an independent and clear manner to ensure the integrity and integrity of the investigations, according to Petra.
The investigation will be transparent and comprehensive, and all its details will be made public, Petra cited the prime minister as saying.
Everyone who is responsible for the failure will bear the consequences in accordance with the provisions of the law, the prime minister said.
