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Covid: Romania's 'hero' doctor taken to Belgium for treatment for severe burns

Reuters Medical staff transfer Dr Catalin Denciu from a from a military airplane to an ambulance, in Otopeni, Ilfov, Romania, on 15 November 2020Reuters
Dr Catalin Denciu is being treated for second to third degree burns

A Romanian doctor who suffered severe burns after trying to save Covid-19 patients from a hospital fire has been taken to Belgium for treatment.

Dr Catalin Denciu was called "heroic" by PM Ludovic Orban, who praised his "particular courage and spirit of sacrifice" trying to save the patients.

Ten patients died in the blaze at the hospital in Piatra Neamt on Saturday.

An inquiry has been launched into how the deadly fire broke out in the public hospital's intensive care unit.

The fire also spread to an adjoining room.

Some reports suggest a medical appliance caught fire, igniting a nearby oxygen cylinder. Regional officials say the unit was moved from the third floor of the hospital to the second without official notification.

Getty Images The emergency services at the scene of a hospital fire where the intensive care unit was burned in Piatra Neamt, Romania, 14 November 2020Getty Images
The blaze on Saturday evening ripped through the intensive care unit at the hospital

Seven men and three women, aged between 67 and 86, died in the fire. Six other Covid-19 patients injured in the fire were transferred to another hospital in the city of Iasi.

Dr Denciu was transferred to Belgium's Queen Astrid military hospital, having been taken to the capital Bucharest after suffering second to third degree burns to 40% of his body, officials said.

Romanian President Klaus Iohannis called it a "huge tragedy" and said it was important to find out what had happened "in order to avoid similar situations in future".

Romania has reported more than 360,000 cases of coronavirus since the start of the pandemic, and nearly 9,000 deaths.

Nearly 13,000 Covid-19 patients were in hospital across Romania as of Sunday, including 1,169 in intensive care units, Reuters news agency reports.