5 people being treated for COVID-19 at a Russian hospital died after a fire, reportedly caused by an overloaded ventilator, broke out in their ICU

• Five coronavirus patients on ventilators in a Russian hospital died on Tuesday after a fire broke out in their intensive care unit.
• The fire started at 6 a.m. local time in the ICU of St. George Hospital, St. Petersburg, according to Russian media. It was put out at 9:40 a.m.
• Fifteen other patients in the unit, also on ventilators, were saved from the fire, Interfax news agency reported.
• Alexei Anikin, head of the regional department of the Ministry of Emergencies, told Interfax that the fire likely started because of an overloaded ventilator.
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Five people undergoing treatment for COVID-19 in a Russian hospital died after a blaze broke out in the intensive care unit.

The fire started at 6 a.m. local time on Tuesday in St. George Hospital, St. Petersburg, where 20 people were hooked up to ventilators, Russian news agencies TASS and Interfax reported.

Alexei Anikin, head of the regional department of the Ministry of Emergencies, told Interfax that the fire likely started due to an overloaded ventilator in the ICU.

"There were 20 patients in total — all lying down. Fifteen people were taken to a safe place on the floor. Five people could not be saved," Aniken said.

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"The ventilators were pushed to their limits. Preliminary data says that one of them was overloaded and burst into flames," an unnamed source with knowledge of the incident told Interfax.

The Russian Emergencies Ministry told TASS the fire spread to the size of ten square meters in the ward. It was extinguished by 9:40 a.m.

"One hundred and fifty people have been evacuated" from the hospital, the ministry told TASS.

Russia's emergency services are straining as the country struggles to contain its own outbreak of the coronavirus.

Russia recorded its highest number of new infections on Monday, with 11,000 cases identified alongside 94 new deaths. More than 2,110 people have died in the country so far.

Tuesday's fire is the second at a Russian hospital recorded in the past week alone.

On Saturday, a fire broke out at a hospital for coronavirus patients in northwestern Moscow, killing one person.

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