(ANSA-AFP) - BUCHAREST, OCT 1 - A fire in a Romanian hospital has left nine coronavirus patients dead, rescue services said Friday, in the latest blaze in the EU member known for its dilapidated infrastructure. Flames engulfed the intensive care unit at a hospital in Constanta in south eastern Romania with nine people confirmed dead, rescue services said in a statement.

Some 100 people had to be evacuated, services spokesman Razvan Parconie told AFP. "The fire is out, but the firefighters are still inside the hospital," he said. The cause of the fire is not yet known. The head of the Silviu Cosa prefecture, where the hospital is located, said 10 Covid-19 patients were being treated in the hospital's ICU unit when the fire broke out. Five patients died in January in a fire at a Bucharest hospital, two months after another blaze killed 15 patients in a hospital in Piatra Neamt in north eastern Romania. (ANSA-AFP).