Two people have been killed in a fire in the intensive care unit of a hospital treating COVID-19 patients in Russia's southern city of Astrakhan, the TASS news agency and Ria Novosti reported on December 24, citing a source in the emergency rescue services.
TASS said the fire had been already extinguished.
In a statement, Russia's Emergencies Ministry said there were casualties but gave no additional details.
Several local media outlets reported that a short circuit in a lamp was suspected as the cause of the fire.
No problems were found with the ventilators, the reports said.