Jordan’s health minister has resigned after six people died due to a lack of oxygen at a hospital ward treating Covid-19 patients.
The deaths were reported early on Saturday at a new government facility in the town of Salt, about 14 miles (23km) west of the capital, Amman.
Prime Minister Bisher al-Khasawneh had asked Health Minister Nathir Obeidat to step down over the incident.
Police were sent to the hospital after dozens of relatives turned up.
The oxygen shortage, which lasted for about an hour, reportedly also affected intensive care and maternity units at the facility, although there were no reports of fatalities on those wards.
It is not yet clear why there was an oxygen shortage and an investigation is under way, Mr Obeidat said. The health minister had earlier said he felt a “moral responsibility” for what had happened.
Jordan’s King Abdullah II has visited the hospital since the incident, Reuters news agency reported.
The country has so far reported more than 460,000 cases of Covid-19 and 5,224 coronavirus-related deaths since the start of the pandemic.
